Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss faced a barrage of racist and sexist threats following Giuliani’s false claims.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Donald Trump’s personal attorney, has been ordered to pay $148 million in damages to two former election officials he defamed with false claims about the 2020 presidential election.

An eight-member federal jury in Washington, D.C., said Friday that Giuliani should pay Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss $75 million in punitive damages and $36 million each for defamation and infliction of emotional distress for making false claims , they tried to rig the election against Trump.

The award came after Freeman and Moss, two former poll workers in Fulton County, Georgia, testified that Giuliani’s false claims made them the target of a barrage of racist and sexist threats.

In court, Moss and Freeman, who are black, said they feared for their lives after they were falsely accused of hiding ballots in suitcases, counting votes multiple times and interfering with voting machines.

Freeman testified that she fled her home after the FBI told her she was not safe, and Moss told jurors that she rarely leaves her home and suffers from panic attacks.

“Our greatest wish is that no one, no poll worker, no voter, no school board member or anyone else ever experiences anything like what we went through,” Moss told reporters after the verdict. “You all matter and you all matter.”

A federal judge found Giuliani liable in Augustand leaves it to a jury to decide the amount of damages.

Giuliani, who had argued that his election comments had no connection to the threats the women received, called the jury’s verdict absurd.

The “absurdity of the number simply underlines the absurdity of the entire process,” he said.

“It’s going to turn around so quickly it’ll make your head spin, and the absurd number that just came in will actually help with that.”

Giuliani also claimed that his comments “were supportable and continue to be supportable today.”

Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Sibley, had admitted that his client had caused harm, but argued that the $48 million fine sought by the two campaign workers would be “the end” for Giuliani and that he was a “good man.” .

The ruling adds to a growing list of legal and financial problems for Giuliani, who, before joining Trump’s inner circle, was known as the “Mayor of America” ​​for his leadership of New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Giuliani was indicted along with Trump and 17 others for participating in an illegal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

In 2021, Giuliana’s law licenses in New York and Washington, DC were suspended for making false statements about the 2020 election.

In September, the 79-year-old former prosecutor was sued by his former attorney for allegedly paying only a fraction of $1.6 million in outstanding legal fees.

He is also being sued by Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, for alleged computer fraud and by a former employee for alleged wage theft and sexual harassment.