Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and personal attorney to President Donald Trump, failed to meet deadlines for paying legal fees to two women he defamed and did not provide discovery items to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Now, he owes way more.
On Aug. 30, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ordered the disgraced politician to pay $89,172 in fees to the attorneys of Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, former Georgia election workers. The judge also ordered his businesses, Giuliani Partners LLC and Giuliani Communications LLC, to pay $43,684 in additional legal fees as sanctions to the women, totaling $132,856.
Despite the deadline of Sept. 20, Giuliani did not fulfill the court’s mandate.
Giuliani could have legally countered the order by providing evidence for his false claims about Freeman and Moss manipulating election totals at the State Farm Arena in Georgia during the November 2020 presidential election.
However, he failed to do so, and on the deadline day, Judge Howell held him responsible for defaming the women. This decision comes a month after Giuliani indicated he wouldn’t contest the defamation claims. Now, the case can proceed to trial to determine the financial damages for the offense.
The women issued a statement about the damage done to their reputations thanks to Giuliani’s claims.
“Nothing can restore all we lost, but today’s ruling is another neutral finding that has confirmed what we have known all along, that there was never any truth to any of the accusations about us and that we did nothing wrong,” the statement said, according to USA Today. “We were smeared for purely political reasons, and the people responsible can and should be held accountable.”
During a Dec. 10, 2020, meeting with Georgia lawmakers, Giuliani alleged election workers openly stole votes and claimed 12,000 to 14,000 illegal ballots were counted. He accused Freeman and Moss of sharing USB drives like “vials of heroin or cocaine.”
However, during a U.S. House hearing, the women disputed this, stating they were sharing ginger mints. Trump also mentioned Freeman’s name 18 times as a political scammer during a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Georgia election officials have since debunked these fraud allegations related to ballot counting.
Now, their lawyers are moving forward with further action to get unspecified damages for their clients.
Days after the deadline, Giuliani was hit with more bad news. On Sept. 22, the already financially strapped Giuliani was ordered by Howell to pony up an additional $104,000 to the women because he failed to respond.
Read the full story at Atlanta Black Star.
Ted Goodman, a political adviser to Giuliani, argued the reason the documents were not produced was because there is no way he can get access to them.
“This 57-page opinion is a prime example of the weaponization of the justice system, where the process is the punishment,” Goodman said.
“This decision should be reversed, as Mayor Giuliani is wrongly accused of not preserving electronic evidence that was seized and held by the FBI,” Goodman added.
It is unclear why Giuliani has not responded. Around the time of the deadline, he was hit with a new lawsuit from his former lawyers. They are asking the courts to award him $1.3 million in unpaid legal fees.
Many on social media reacted to the judge’s ordering Rudy to pay more.
“I thought his mate Donald was going to bail him out or do some fundraising?” one X user wrote.
“Can’t bleed a turnip,” another wrote.
