Judge Finds Rudy Giuliani in Contempt of Court Over False Claims About Georgia Election Workers

Rudy Giuliani was found in contempt of court for the second time this week by a federal judge for continuing to spread lies about two former Georgia election workers after a jury awarded them a $148 million defamation judgment.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., found Giuliani violated court orders barring him from defaming Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman. She ordered him to review trial testimony and other materials from the case, and warned him that future violations could result in possible jail time.

Moss and Freeman sued Giuliani for defamation for falsely accusing them of committing election fraud in connection with the 2020 election. His lies upended their lives with racist threats and harassment.

Giuliani slammed the judge in a social media post, calling her “bloodthirsty” and biased against him and the proceeding a “hypocritical waste of time.”

“This takes real chutzpah, Mr. Giuliani,” she said, as he smiled and chuckled during the hearing.

After the judge finished reading her decision from the bench, Giuliani asked her when she wrote it and why he had to travel to Washington to attend the hearing if she had already reached a decision in advance.

“Remarkable that you can do that in three or four minutes,” Giuliani said.

The judge didn't fine Giuliani for his most recent defamatory comments about the case, but warned him that daily fines of $200 would be imposed if he doesn't certify within 10 days that he has complied with her order to review trial testimony and other case-related material.

A jury sided with Moss and Freeman 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.

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.”