Judge to consider holding Giuliani in contempt for potentially disregarding court after jury awards $148 million in defamation case

WASHINGTON – A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday on whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election workers after they secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., to impose civil contempt sanctions against Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who served as Donald Trump’s attorney. They say Giuliani has continued to falsely accuse Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, of committing election fraud in connection with the 2020 election.

Moss and Freeman sued Giuliani, saying he upended their lives with racist threats and harassment. A jury sided with the mother and daughter, who are Black, in December 2023 and awarded them $75 million in punitive damages plus roughly $73 million in other damages.

“Mr. Giuliani started lying about Plaintiffs in December of 2020, and refused to stop after repeatedly being told that his election-rigging conspiracy theory about Plaintiffs was baseless, malicious, and dangerous,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote.

Giuliani’s attorneys argued that the plaintiffs haven’t presented “clear and convincing” evidence that he violated a court order in the defamation case in comments that he made on November podcasts about alleged ballot counting irregularities in Georgia.

“Giuliani acted with the good faith belief that his comments did not violate the (judgment) and he should not be subject to contempt sanctions,” his lawyers wrote.

If Howell holds Giuliani, a Republican, in contempt of court, she would be the second federal judge to do so this week. On Monday in New York, Judge Lewis Liman found Giuliani in contempt of court for related claims that he failed to turn over evidence to help the judge decide whether he can keep a Palm Beach, Florida, condominium.

Giuliani, who testified in Liman’s Manhattan courtroom Jan. 3, said he didn’t turn over everything because he believed the requests were overly broad, inappropriate or even a “trap” set by plaintiffs’ lawyers.

Giuliani, 80, said in a court filing that he will attend Friday’s hearing before Howell despite having travel-related concerns about his health and safety. He said he gets death threats and has been told to be careful about traveling.

“I had hoped the Court would understand and accommodate my needs. However, it appears I was mistaken,” he said in the filing.

On the witness stand, Moss and Freeman described fearing for their lives after becoming the target of a false conspiracy theory that Giuliani and other Republicans spread as they tried to keep Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. Moss told jurors she tried to change her appearance, seldom leaves her home and suffers from panic attacks.

“Money will never solve all my problems,” Freeman told reporters after the jury’s verdict. “I can never move back into the house that I call home. I will always have to be careful about where I go and who I choose to share my name with. I miss my home. I miss my neighbors, and I miss my name.”