Jury Selected In Defamation Trial Against Rudy Giuliani

The two women have had their lives turned inside out over Giuliani's actions.

The jury was selected on Dec. 11 in the high-profile defamation case where two Georgia election workers are suing former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani for millions.

From a group of 12, eight Washington, D.C. residents were picked to hear testimonies from two former Fulton County, GA, election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss. The two women sued Giuliani for running a smear campaign where he accused them of committing election fraud in order to change the results of the 2020 election in their state. The jury consists of three men and five women, including a journalist from Al Jazeera, a veteran U.S. Forest Service employee, a Defense Intelligence Agency cost analyst, a hemp seed entrepreneur, and an accountant for the Girl Scouts.

Freeman and Moss are hoping the jury will award them anywhere between $15.5 million to $43 million for damages from Giuliani, but there is no word on if that will happen. The two women caught the nation’s attention when the disgraced former politician and attorney posted a video of Freeman and Moss processing ballots at State Farm Arena on election night and claimed that was evidence of them tampering with ballots. In early 2023, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found Giuliani liable for a number of claims, including defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

Defense attorneys for the mother-daughter duo described to the jury the emotional and psychological harm suffered as a result of Giuliani and his allies’ actions.

“What’s in a name? Power. Purpose. Pride,” attorney Von Dubose said in opening statements. “This case is about how Mr. Giuliani and his co-conspirators took these folks’ good names.”

The harassment began shortly after President Biden won the Oval Office on Dec. 3, 2020. What started as an online smear campaign turned into death threats, racist remarks, and in-person visits to Freeman’s home. According to Dubose, there were calls for Freeman and Moss to be hung. Because of the threats, Freeman was forced to sell her home, and Moss was out of work and struggled to find new employment.

According to NPR, Howell has already ordered Giuliani to pay over $200,000 in attorneys’ fees corresponding to his reluctance to turn in his financial records and other related documents. The payment is added to the mile-long list of other legal issues the former TIME Person of the Year candidate faces. In 2022, conservative cable channel One America News Network agreed to settle a part of a lawsuit including former President Donald Trump, leaving Giuliani as the main defendant.