With Rudy Giuliani’s defamation trial kicking off this week in Washington, I think it’s useful to recount the terror the onetime Trump lawyer wrought upon Ruby Freeman.
Because a federal judge has already found Giuliani liable, the civil trial will simply determine how much he will be required to pay Freeman, the former Georgia election worker.
Freeman has testified about her experience about being falsely accused of cheating Donald Trump out of victory in the 2020 presidential election. Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, who are Black, both told the House Jan. 6 committee about the racism and threats directed their way when Trump and Giuliani spread falsehoods about them.
Just to give you a sense of the abuse Giuliani inflicted on Freeman, here’s a quick timeline.
Nov. 19, 2020
Giuliani holds a conspiratorial news conference after Trump’s election loss, in which he decries mail-in voting and cites “fraudulent ballots” in Georgia.
The minute that you separate the outer envelope from the ballot, you can no longer trace it, which is why whatever the count in Georgia today is, it’s totally ridiculous. They’re counting the same fraudulent ballots one more time. And we’re still very close!
Dec. 3
Appearing before Georgia state lawmakers, Giuliani presents a short video that he falsely alleges shows Fulton County election workers engaging in fraud. Both Giuliani and the Trump campaign promote the video throughout the day.
That night, Giuliani tweeted that the footage proved that “Fulton County Democrats stole the election.”
Dec. 4
Gabriel Sterling, a Republican serving as the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state, debunks Giuliani’s claim.
But Giuliani refuses to back down, as evidenced by this tweet from that night:
According to Reuters, Freeman called 911 that night and told the dispatcher that she had received a flood of “threats and phone calls and racial slurs.” She added: “It’s scary because they’re saying stuff…
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