Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani slapped with default judgment and penalties in defamation lawsuit
Rudy Giuliani
Donald Trump's former lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been issued a default judgment and ordered to pay sanctions of nearly $133,000 in a defamation and civil conspiracy lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers.
The workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea'ArShaye Moss, claimed that Giuliani had defamed them by alleging the mishandling of ballots in the 2020 presidential election.
Penalty for 'wilful misconduct'
US District Judge Beryl Howell imposed the 'default' judgment and monetary penalty after Giuliani repeatedly failed to comply with orders to turn over electronically stored documents and evidence sought by the two election workers' lawyers.
CNBC reports that Judge Howell criticised Giuliani for "wilful... misconduct" and "slippery" statements, failing to fulfil his obligations under the legal proceedings known as discovery.
In her 57-page opinion, the Judge said: "The bottom line is that Giuliani has refused to comply with his discovery obligations and thwarted plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Wandrea' ArShaye Moss’s procedural rights to obtain any meaningful discovery in this case."
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"Given the wilful shirking of his discovery obligations in anticipation of and during this litigation, Giuliani leaves little other choice," wrote Howell.
"For the reasons set out below, the pending motion [for sanctions] is granted. Default judgment will be entered against Giuliani as a discovery sanction."
The judge's ruling emphasised Giuliani's failure to comply with discovery requests and ordered him to personally pay the plaintiffs $89,172.50 as reimbursement for their attorneys' fees and costs associated with their motion to compel evidence. Additionally, two of Giuliani's companies were ordered to pay the plaintiffs $43,684 for the same conduct.
She has also ordered Giuliani and the plaintiffs' lawyers to propose three trial dates in the US District Court in Washington, DC, to determine the amount of compensatory and punitive damages he should pay due to thejudgment.
Howell's ruling also referred to Giuliani's recent criminal indictment in Georgia related to alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
False claims
Giuliani had previously made false claims about the handling of ballots by Freeman and Moss while representing former President Donald Trump.
The mother-daughter duo has sued Giuliani for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy.Giuliani had previously conceded, for the lawsuit, that he had made "false" statements about the women that were "defamatory per se."
Speaking in front of a select house committee last year, Freeman said: "I've lost my name and I've lost my reputation."
During her testimony, she also asked, "Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?"
(With inputs from agencies)
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