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shaye moss
Giuliani Ordered to Give NYC Penthouse, Luxury Items to Georgia Election Workers He Defamed
'This outcome should send a powerful message that there is a price to pay for those who choose to intentionally spread disinformation," said a lawyer representing the two women.
Oct 22, 2024
Rudy Giuliani, the disgraced and disbarred former New York City mayor and personal attorney for ex-President Donald Trump, was ordered by a federal judge on Tuesday to hand over all of his valuable possessions—including everything from a New York City penthouse co-op to his television set—to a pair of Georgia election workers whom he defamed in service of Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by Democrats.
In August 2023, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found Giuliani liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and ArShaye "Shaye" Moss—who worked as election officials in Fulton County, Georgia—by falsely accusing the pair of engaging in a nonexistent conspiracy to "steal" the 2020 U.S. presidential election from Trump by taking part in a fake ballot harvesting scheme. Freeman and Moss endured death threats and harassment from Trump supporters as a result of the bogus accusation.
Last December, a Washington, D.C. jury ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million in damages to the women. He subsequently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Liman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order for Giuliani "to transfer all personal property specified" in an attached list, including "cash accounts, jewelry and valuables, a legal claim for unpaid attorneys' fees, and his interest in his Madison Avenue co-op apartment to a receivership" benefiting Freeman and Moss.
In addition to the co-op—which according to the real estate website Zillow has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and is worth an estimated $20.6 million—items on the list include watches gifted by European leaders after the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz 500SL formerly owned by the actress Lauren Bacall, and sports memorabilia including a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey.
"We are proud that our clients will finally begin to receive some of the compensation to which they are entitled for Giuliani's actions," Aaron Nathan, an attorney who represented Freeman and Moss, said in a statement. "This outcome should send a powerful message that there is a price to pay for those who choose to intentionally spread disinformation."
"The road to justice for Ruby and Shaye has been long, but they have never wavered," Nathan added.
Giuliani has paid a heavy price for purveying election fraud lies that culminated in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection by supporters of Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee. His credibility is now in tatters and he has been permanently stripped of his New York and Washington, D.C. law licenses.
And his troubles are far from over—Giuliani also faces criminal charges related to alleged election subversion in
Arizona and Georgia.
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Federal Judge Finds Giuliani Liable for Defaming Two Georgia Election Workers
U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell ripped Rudy Giuliani for "donning a cloak of victimization" after making defamatory statements against Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
Aug 30, 2023
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's erstwhile personal attorney, is legally liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, Georgia election workers who have endured death threats and harassment since Giuliani falsely accused them of committing fraud during the 2020 presidential contest.
Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a scathing 57-page opinion that "rather than simply play by the rules designed to promote a discovery process necessary to reach a fair decision on the merits of plaintiffs' claims, Giuliani has bemoaned plaintiffs' efforts to secure his compliance as 'punishment by process.'"
"Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences," Howell added, "but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straightforward defamation case, with the concomitant necessity of repeated court intervention."
A jury will be tasked with deciding how much Giuliani will have to pay in damages to Freeman and Moss, whom the former New York City mayor accused of "surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if they are vials of heroin or cocaine" as they counted ballots in Georgia.
In reality, what Giuliani saw in surveillance footage was Freeman handing Moss—her daughter—a ginger mint, Moss said in congressional testimony last year.
Giuliani, who spearheaded the Trump legal team's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, also claimed Freeman and Moss were engaged in a scheme involving "suitcases" stuffed with ballots. But what Giuliani said were suitcases were in fact official ballot containers.
Last month, Giuliani
agreed not to contest that he made false and defamatory statements about Freeman and Moss.
CNNreported Wednesday that the damages owed to Freeman and Moss "could amount to thousands if not millions of dollars."
"Giuliani has already been sanctioned almost $90,000 for Freeman and Moss' attorneys' fees in the case, and Howell says the former New York mayor may be saddled with additional similar sanctions," the outlet added. "Giuliani has been struggling financially, buried under 2020 election legal proceedings, a new criminal case against him in Georgia related to efforts to overturn the election, and other matters. He has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges in Georgia and has been released from jail on bond."
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