In a new court filing to U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, delusional and disgraced Trumpist consigliere Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani admits making defamatory statements about Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss in the aftermath of the 2020 election. However, the filing doesn't acknowledge that his defamatory statements caused damage to either woman, and that he's using "protected speech" as a shield against their lawsuit. The filing is seen as an attempt by Giuliani to settle the case with the election workers and avoid losing his law license.
To be clear, Giuliani was engaged in some of the most wildly dishonest and dangerous accusations about the elections being rigged. Freeman and Moss, as they testified to the January 6 Congressional committee, recounted how they received death threats from MAGAts, and were forced to go into hiding for fear of their lives. From the Washington Post story:
"Moss said she was speechless when her supervisors showed her a recording of Giuliani’s statement to a Georgia state Senate committee investigating the 2020 result. Giuliani claimed that Moss and Freeman had plotted to kick out observers at the State Farm Arena, where the county had set up a ballot counting operation. They had brought in suitcases filled with fraudulent ballots for Biden and scanned them through the tabulating teams multiple times, he said. He described surveillance video from the arena that he claimed showed the two exchanging USB memory sticks, presumably containing fraudulent vote counts, 'as if they’re vials of cocaine.'” (our emphasis)
According to the court, Giuliani has also not been forthcoming in producing documents for the lawyers for Freeman and Moss in the discovery process, a delaying tactic and evidence of his desire to withhold damaging information. Stay tuned.
