Rudy Giuliani plans to testify in his own defense at an upcoming civil trial over how much he must pay two women he defamed in Georgia while spreading disinformation about the 2020 election.
Giuliani’s disclosure that he planned to take the stand in the Washington, DC, courtroom at the trial, scheduled for next month, came in a court filing late Tuesday night.
Attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the mother-daughter election workers who are suing Giuliani, claim he severely harmed them by falsely accusing them of ballot tampering and are seeking $15.5 million to $43 million in compensation, plus punitive damages and potentially interest.
They also plan, according to the filing, to use a ginger mint as an exhibit at the trial – the candy that Freeman passed to Moss – prompting Giuliani to claim they were passing USB drives of fake votes that he compared to drugs.
The trial is set to be one of several upcoming high-profile revisitings of the aftermath of Donald Trump’s attempts to keep control of the presidency after he lost the election. Giuliani has been grilled before by other investigators, including in Congress, about his actions after the election. Yet in this court proceeding, he faces the possibility of steep fines.
A federal judge determined in August that Giuliani had lost the defamation suit brought by the women after he failed to provide information sought in subpoenas.
Giuliani separately faces criminal charges in the state of Georgia along with Trump and others, and is preparing for a trial there. He has pleaded not guilty. A trial date has not been set.
Attorneys for Moss and Freeman said both women plan to testify at Giuliani’s damages trial, and that they may call other prominent people who helped Trump after the election, such as Jenna Ellis, Bernie Kerik and Christina Bobb. They said they also may call Giuliani to testify as well.
Giuliani already owes them more than $273,000 ordered by the court to reimburse Moss and Freeman for some legal fees.
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