A Washington, D.C., judge rejected Rudy Giuliani’s request to overturn the nearly $146 million defamation penalties that he owes to two former Georgia election workers over his claims following the 2020 presidential election.
Giuliani, who after his time as mayor served as a personal lawyer to former President Donald Trump, was ordered by a jury in December to pay Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss $148 million for making false claims that the mother and daughter duo committed election fraud while counting ballots in Fulton County during the 2020 election. The total penalty amount was later lowered to $145,969,000 after a final judgment in December
In an email to Newsweek Monday afternoon, Giuliani’s lead attorney, Joseph Sibley, said that the defense team was “not at all surprised the trial court did not reverse its own prior rulings and we will now proceed with an appeal to the D.C. Circuit where we look forward to an appellate panel reviewing the case.”
Sibley also noted that Giuliani’s post-trial motion to reverse the judgement was “required” in order to “preserve certain issues for appeal.