AURN News with Ebony McMorris

Giuliani on Trial for Defamation Against Georgia Election Workers

Ebony McMorris
December 11, 2023

Reading Time: < 1 minute

In federal court, Rudy Giuliani faces a defamation trial over his false accusations against two Georgia election workers. After Giuliani claimed they tampered with the 2020 election results, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, mother and daughter, experienced severe racist attacks and threats.

The jury will now decide the damages Giuliani must pay, potentially up to $43.5 million. Giuliani’s allegations, which include unfounded claims of fake votes for Biden, led to harassment and death threats against Freeman and Moss.

FILE – Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker, is comforted by her mother Ruby Freeman, right, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2022. On Monday, Oct. 31, 2022, a federal judge declined to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani by Moss and Freeman, who served as election workers in Georgia in November 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The lawsuit emphasizes the emotional and reputational harm that they both suffered, saying that they were scared to leave the house and received constant death threats.

Giuliani’s lawyer acknowledged their harm but argued against his client being the cause of the threats.

As Freeman and Moss testify and the world watches, how will this trial affect the broader conversation about accountability in political rhetoric?

Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.