The judgment to pay 148 million in damages for defamation to the two former Georgia tellers hits Rudy Giuliani, who has already been bankrupt for months and is unable to pay the millions in legal fees for the lawsuits arising from his very active role as Donald’s lawyer Trump in appeals against the 2020 election results. It is no coincidence that his lawyers told jurors in the final speech that accepting the 43 million requested by the prosecution would have marked “the end of Giuliani”, would have been “the civil equivalent of the penalty of death “. In response, the jury tripled the amount.
It is unclear how the former New York mayor, who was once forced to put his Manhattan apartment up for sale, will be able to pay that amount. Especially because there are other even more serious cases of defamation that he is facing, such as those against the electoral machine companies, which Giuliani accused of being at the center of the alleged electoral fraud. The most pressing issue for the former prosecutor, and himself a lawyer, despite being suspended from the bar for the way he supported unfounded arguments about electoral fraud, is the legal costs that he is unable to pay. So much so that he was sued by his own former lawyers, who demanded 1.4 million in unpaid fees.
“There are a lot of bills that he is not paying,” Adam Katz, one of the lawyers who continues to represent Giuliani, admitted to the judges last August, when it was discovered that the former mayor had turned to Trump to unsuccessfully ask for help. financial. help cover your legal expenses. But now the sum of $148 million payable to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two former African-American Georgia election officials subjected to racist and violent attacks by Giuliani for alleged fraud, exceeds any previous debt. Leaving the courtroom, Trump’s former lawyer said he was “quite confident that when this case gets to a fair court, it will be overturned as quickly as possible, and this huge sum will help.” The 10-hour jury ruled that the two women should each receive $37 million for emotional distress and stress caused by Giuliani’s defamation. And he added 75 million in punitive damages. When the sentence and amount were read, even the district judge who presided over the trial, Beryl Howell, seemed surprised by the size of the compensation amount.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
