Giuliani now owes over $230,000 after defaming two Georgia election workers
By Katelyn Polantz, Senior Reporter, Crime and Justice
(CNN) — Rudy Giuliani has failed to pay more than $132,000 in sanctions he faces for failing to respond to parts of a lawsuit from two Georgia election workers, according to a court filing.
In addition, US District Judge Beryl Howell on Friday ordered the former New York mayor to pay an additional $104,000 to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, a mother and daughter he defamed, for additional legal fees they’ve incurred because of his failure to respond to parts of their lawsuit.
This is the latest difficulty for Giuliani as he faces fallout from his work for Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
Giuliani has struggled to pay legal bills in recent months, including related to the lawsuit from Freeman and Moss.
The bill of $132,856 is only a small chunk of the financial burden Giuliani is currently under, largely because of his ongoing legal troubles, and it’s one he’s known of for several weeks.
But a court filing on Thursday confirmed Giuliani has not paid the amount to Moss and Freeman, which a judge ordered to offset some of their attorneys’ fees.
“As of the date of this filing, Defendant Giuliani has failed to take any of the actions, or to cause the Giuliani Businesses to take any of the actions, so-ordered in the Sanctions Order,” Moss and Freeman’s lawyers wrote on Thursday, according to the filing. “Plaintiffs are considering what further relief may be appropriate.”
Giuliani’s failure to respond to subpoenas for records in Moss and Freeman’s lawsuit led to the sanctioned amount, which is now accruing interest as he continues to not pay. Yet it isn’t the end of the bills for Giuliani in the case. He will face a damages trial in the case before a jury in December.
Just days ago, he also faced a new lawsuit from his former attorney for $1.3 million in unpaid legal fees, and other lawsuits against him are ongoing.
Giuliani lost the defamation lawsuit in August from the two Georgia election workers against him after he failed to provide information sought in subpoenas.
In court in recent weeks, Giuliani said he could no longer contest that he made false and defamatory statements about Freeman and Moss.
The two are asking for unspecified damages after they say they suffered emotional and reputational harm, as well as having their safety put in danger, after Giuliani singled them out when he made false claims of ballot tampering in Georgia after the 2020 election.
Giuliani’s statements about them, which Freeman and Moss say are false, included calling them ballot-stuffing criminal conspirators. Giuliani also drew attention to a video of them after the election, which was first posted by the Trump campaign and showed part of a security tape of ballot counting in Atlanta. On social media, his podcast and other broadcasts, Giuliani said the video showed suitcases filled with ballots, when it did not capture anything but normal ballot processing, according to the defamation lawsuit and a state investigation.
Georgia election officials have debunked Giuliani’s accusations of fraud during the ballot counting.
The-CNN-Wire
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