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Rudy Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss are suing Rudy Giuliani once again, accusing him of repeating the false statements about them that led to him being found liable for defamation.
Freeman and her daughter Moss served as poll workers during the 2020 election in Georgia, later becoming wrapped up in former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread election fraud. The pair were put at the center of a conspiracy that wrongly accused them of engaging in fraud, claims which were later repeated by Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who worked as a lawyer for Trump during his efforts to contest the election results.
Citing an inundation of threats and unwanted attention resulting from his comments, Freeman and Moss brought a civil defamation lawsuit against Giuliani, with a judge ultimately ruling that he was liable for damages to the mother-daughter pair. On Friday, a Washington, D.C., jury ordered the former mayor to pay the women $148 million in damages: between $16 and $17 million each to Freeman and Moss in compensatory damages, $20 million each for the intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a further $75 million in punitive damages.
On Monday, Freeman and Moss filed a new complaint against Giuliani after he continued to repeat the false claims about them in public, including during an appearance on the conservative news station, Newsmax. The filing asks that a court issue "injunctive relief to permanently bar Giuliani from persisting in... [his] defamatory campaign."
"Defendant Giuliani continues to spread the very same lies for which he has already been held liable," the lawsuit argues. "Defendant Giuliani's statements, coupled with his refusal to agree to refrain from continuing to make such statements, make clear that he intends to persist in his campaign of targeted defamation and harassment. It must stop."
If the request is granted by a judge, it would bar the former mayor "from making or publishing, or causing to be made or published, further statements repeating any and all false claims" about Freeman and Moss having "engaged in election fraud, illegal activity or misconduct of any kind" in their roles as 2020 election workers.
Newsweek reached out to representatives for Giuliani via email for comment.
Last week, after the first day of the damages trial, Giuliani told gathered reporters outside the courthouse in D.C. that "everything I said about them is true," further claiming to have proof and urging the media to "stay tuned." Following Friday's verdict, he told the press that he had "no doubt" about his comments being "supportable." He later continued to repeat the false assertions about Freeman and Moss during a podcast interview with Steve Bannon. All of these instances were cited by the pair in their new complaint.
Update 12/18/23 6:15 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more