Recently, jurors in the defamation lawsuit brought by former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss against longtime Trump ally Rudy Giuliani imposed a staggering financial penalty of $148 million on the former New York City mayor.
Presiding Judge Beryl Howell had already held Giuliani liable for claims from Freeman and Moss, who are a mother and daughter, after he failed to comply with obligations in the discovery period. Discovery refers to routine proceedings ahead of trial in which case-related materials are shared.
Now, in an appearance on MSNBC, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said Giuliani is under the threat of imprisonment if he continues refusing to substantively comply with proceedings. Weissmann explained that opportunities for the plaintiffs’ legal team to pursue the ex-mayor’s assets will continue even if Giuliani enters bankruptcy proceedings. And his financial obligations just keep mounting, with defamation litigation against him still ongoing that originates with the election technology companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. These cases all trace to the lies Giuliani told after the last presidential election about what had transpired, conspiracy theories in which he and his circles named the interests now suing.
“If he continues to do that, the one thing that the judge has not yet done but can do is put him in jail,” Weissmann said, referring to Giuliani’s past non-compliance. “So, there are still remedies for the judge to make sure that every asset he has is disclosed, and if not, to take action.”
Freeman and Moss faced substantial threats to their safety after the spread of lies from Trump’s circles about their supposed participation in imaginary election fraud. Claims implicating them were investigated by authorities including state personnel in Georgia with the cooperation of federal law enforcement, who found nothing backing up the sweeping theories. Instead, credible sources found explanations for supposedly suspicious parts of Freeman and Moss’s participation in election work that aligned with standard practice. So-called suitcases of ballots, for instance, were actually normal containers for the votes.
Watch Weissmann below:
