A federal judge issued a default judgement against former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani Wednesday, ordering the former mayor to cough up more than $130,000 in a civil case brought by two Georgia election workers whom he accused of rigging the 2020 presidential election, court filingsshow.
DC-based US District Judge Beryl Howell rebuked Giuliani, 79, for failing to hand over electronic communications or complete financial records to attorneys for Peach State election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shay” Moss as part of the discovery process in their defamation suit against him.
In a 57-page memo, Howell said the former federal prosecutor had “given only lip service” to a process he knew intimately from experience and instead “thwarted” the plaintiffs’ attorneys at every step.
“Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straight-forward defamation case, with the concomitant necessity of repeated court intervention,” she wrote.
A federal judge sanctioned former New York City Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday as part of a civil case brought by two Georgia election workers. AP
US District Judge Beryl Howell issued a default judgment against Giuliani, 79, for repeatedly failing to provide electronic communications or complete financial records. The Washington Post via Getty ImagesThe evidence requested included private emails and messages from Giuliani’s electronic devices, most of which were seized by the FBI in April 2021 before being returned in August 2022 — at which point, Giuliani claimed, they had been “wiped out.”
However, Howell sided with the plaintiffs’ attorneys in finding that Giuliani had done little to preserve his personal communications, noting at least two devices were not seized by federal agents.
Financial records from the former mayor’s businesses — Giuliani Communications LLC and Giuliani Partners LLC — and his podcast “Common Sense” were also not sufficiently produced, the judge said.
Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shay” Moss are suing Giuliani for defamation. Getty ImagesHowell ordered Giuliani to pay $89,172.50 in fees with interest for withholding the information.
His businesses must also pay an associated $43,684 in fees, with interest associated, if he fails to comply again.
The plaintiffs have until Sept. 8 to submit any further costs for discovery motions, and Giuliani has until Sept. 15 to file any objections to the judge’s order.
By Sept. 20, both parties must submit three proposed trial dates between November 2023 and February 2024. Giuliani, by the same date, must pay all fees and provide the court with his financial records.
In a 57-page memo, Howell said the former mayor and federal prosecutor had “given only lip service” to a process he knew intimately from experience. Getty ImagesHowell said the jury for the case will be told that Giuliani’s failure to provide information should be interpreted as an intentional attempt to hide his finances and deflate his net worth.
“This 57-page opinion on discovery — which would usually be no more than two or three pages — is a prime example of the weaponization of the justice system, where the process is the punishment,” Giuliani’s political adviser Ted Goodman told The Post. “This decision should be reversed, as Mayor Giuliani is wrongly accused of not preserving electronic evidence that was seized and held by the FBI.”
Freeman and Moss filed the defamation suit against the man once known as “America’s Mayor” in December 2021, alleging he falsely claimed they had committed election fraud by pointing to a heavily edited video of the supposed crime.
Freeman and Moss filed the defamation suit against the man once known as “America’s Mayor” in December 2021. APThe pair also sued One America News Network over the same claims, as the video footage was also circulated by Trump allies in right-wing media.
Giuliani said the mother-daughter duo had passed a USB drive “like vials of heroin or cocaine” to commit ballot fraud, but Moss later testified to the House January 6th select committee that she was handing her mother a ginger mint.
Georgia’s State Election Board in June dismissed the allegations following an investigation, stating that the fraud claims were “unsubstantiated and found to have no merit.”
Giuliani’s political adviser Ted Goodman told The Post his boss “is wrongly accused of not preserving electronic evidence that was seized and held by the FBI.” APGiuliani admitted the next month in court to making “false” claims about the plaintiffs and did not contest their allegations.
“The Defendant Giuliani, for the purposes of this litigation only, does not contest that … such actionable factual statements are false,” the July 26 filing read.
However, he disputed that the remarks were “defamatory, per se” and called them “constitutionally protected statements or opinions.”
Giuliani was indicted in Georgia earlier this month along with former President Donald Trump and 17 co-defendants for their attempts to overturn 2020 election results. APGiuliani was indicted Aug. 14 along with Trump and 17 others for their attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
He faces 13 counts, including charges under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act — the federal version of which he relied on as a federal prosecutor — conspiracy, false statements and asking a public official to violate their oath of office.






