A federal judge decided on Wednesday, December 20, that Rudy Giuliani must pay the $148 million he owes for defaming two Georgia election workers immediately.
On December 15, a jury decided that Giuliani, the disgraced former attorney for Donald Trump, had falsely accused Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss of engaging in voter fraud during the 2020 general election. Giuliani was forced to pay the two women $148 million in a civil defamation complaint. President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the election.
Fearing that Giuliani would use the month to dispose of any assets he did have in the District of Columbia, where the case was tried, Freeman and Moss applied to have the automatic 30-day stay of judgment enforcement dissolved and to be able to seek their award in any district after being awarded the tens of millions in damages.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of the two former election workers, finding that their motion “is both appropriate and warranted.”
According to Howell, Giuliani disregarded the court’s orders to reveal his financial status throughout the trial and has not been willing to pay the fines that were placed on him for his misbehavior.
Freeman and Moss had expressed fear that Giuliani would say he can’t pay his bills because he has other obligations and is embroiled in legal disputes, or he might dissipate his assets to conceal them.
Howell responded that this argument “simply ignores the ample record in this case of Giuliani’s efforts to conceal or hide his assets.” The former mayor retorted that there is no proof that he has attempted to do this.
“Giuliani makes no assurance in the opposition that he will not conceal assets from plaintiffs. Furthermore, he makes no attempt to argue, much less provide documentary or other evidence, that he would be unable to uphold the judgment, in whole or in part, according to Howell.
Although Giuliani’s attorneys have maintained that the sum their client has been ordered to pay is “the civil equivalent of the death penalty,” the court is unable to independently verify Giuliani’s assertions due to his ongoing failure to reply to demands for information regarding his financial status.
“Such claims of Giuliani’s ‘financial difficulties’ — no matter how many times repeated or public disseminated and duly reported in the media — are difficult to square with the fact that Giuliani affords a spokesperson, who accompanied him daily to trial,” stated Howell.
Giuliani further contended that he would be denied the chance to lower the amount owed if the court permits the final decision to be executed immediately. Once more, Howell refuted the claim made by the plaintiffs that the sum he was ordered to pay was $10 million less.
Giuliani would need to post a bond equal to the amount he owes Freeman or Moss in order to appeal the ruling, even if he still has options. Furthermore, he would need to provide proof of his incapacity to do so if he lacks the funds to do so.