A New York bankruptcy court on Friday gave the former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, permission to seek a new trial to recover the $148 million in damages he was ordered to pay for defaming two poll workers in Georgia.
Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two poll workers in Georgia, were defamed by Rudy Giuliani, who was forced to pay $148 million in damages. Giuliani’s bogus allegations that the two employees plotted to rig the 2020 election, resulting in harassment and damage, served as the foundation for the defamation verdict. As a deterrent to future wrongdoing, the jury’s unanimous verdict included $75 million in punitive damages.
Giuliani’s refusal to turn over and preserve important evidence resulted in a default judgment against him in August, which prompted the case to be taken to court. Giuliani’s mounting debts and insolvency alarmed the plaintiffs, who thought he might stop making payments. They thus requested a court order to seize his assets before they might be lost and to stop him from making any more untrue statements.
“It’s standard practice for someone who has won a significant verdict to engage the court to preserve the assets of the losing party,” notes attorney Richard DiTomaso, Esq.
The judgment was made on Friday, after Giuliani’s limited permission to contest the defamation verdict from a U.S. bankruptcy judge. Giuliani’s lawyer told the judge during a two-hour Zoom conference that the former mayor did not have the money to pay the $148 million he owes, and the judge approved the procedural move under specific restrictions.
Concerns about Giuliani abusing his bankruptcy have been voiced by a few of his creditors, and there is good reason to be concerned about the costs, delays, and difficulties. A broad coalition of creditors, including election workers, a grocery store employee, voting technology businesses, and a lady who claims Giuliani forced her into having sex, have emerged as a result of the bankruptcy petition.
Giuliani’s legal issues also include criminal cases pertaining to election meddling, in which he is the only defendant facing the greatest number of criminal counts. In actuality, Guiliani’s legal future is extremely unclear because he is embroiled in eleven court disputes.