United States: Rudy Giuliani, a former attorney for President-elect Donald Trump, will attend a court session in Washington on Friday since his civil contempt of court trial was initiated by the second attempt this week in a case involving two Georgia election officials he accused of voting fraud in the 2020 election, as reported by Reuters.
Civil Contempt Charges
The election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss have accused Giuliani of violating the previous court order to cease and desist from further accusing them.
Majority At least Giuliani, a former New York mayor, was already in civil contempt earlier on Monday after a federal judge in New York concluded that he failed to produce information to Freeman and Moss whenever they sought to make discoveries.
The pair used that case to seek a $148 million judgment they obtained against Giuliani in 2023 in a distinct defamation trial in Washington where the former New York City mayor accused them both of conspiring to ensure counts of unlawful ballots in favor of Joe Biden after the 2020 election. Giuliani is still appealing the decision.
Legal Consequences Mount for Giuliani
On Friday, Giuliani will testify before U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who has the discretion of fining Giuliani civilly or even incarcerating him if she has found him in contempt.
STARTING NOW: Rudy Giuliani is back in federal court in D.C. as a judge hears arguments about whether he should be held in contempt for allegedly resuming defamatory statements against two former Georgia election workers. https://t.co/j2htlmn3Am
— Jordan Fischer (@JordanOnRecord) January 10, 2025
This second contempt citation compounds the legal troubles Giuliani, 80, has faced over claims which sought to reverse Trump’s loss to the Democratic President Joe Biden in the just concluded 2020 polls.
Giuliani has been disbarred for engaging in frivolous lawsuits or perjury and has pleaded not guilty to charges in Georgia and Arizona.
Election Workers Seek Accountability
Counsel for Freeman and Moss accused Giuliani of breaching the restraining order after he stated in an episode of his podcast that the defendants had been captured on video “quadruple counting the ballots” and using a computer hard drive to “fix the machines.”
A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday on whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election workers after they secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him.https://t.co/ekaDq2iI5w
— TribLIVE.com (@TribLIVE) January 10, 2025
Giuliani’s lawyers made this argument in a letter to the court; the former president failed to mention the two women by name in the podcast. They also argued that the statements were privileged because Giuliani was reciting his legal defense on appeal, as reported by Reuters.
This settlement was reached in May 2024 when the jury awarded $148 million to Freeman and Moss and only allowed Giuliani to utter anything publicly about the 2020 election if such statements did not touch on any impropriety by Freeman and Moss.