Election worker vilified by Giuliani talks about emotional impact
On December 4, 2020, Shaye Moss, then an election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, was summoned to her supervisor’s office, where she thought she would be promoted after a month for her hard work on Election Day. of positive feedback.
Instead, Ms. Moss was shown videos filled with “lies” and baseless accusations that she and her mother, a colleague, had tried to steal votes in President Donald J. Trump’s vital swing state, she testified in Federal District Court. Tuesday in Washington.
From the moment she got that message, her life changed. Soon, she and her 14-year-old son were inundated with threats, racist messages and phone calls. “Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920” was a warning she received on Facebook.
“That was the day everything changed,” Ms. Moss told a jury in a civil trial to determine what damages Mr. Giuliani should pay for defaming her and her mother, Ruby Freeman. “Everything in my life changed. The day I changed. The day everything turned upside down.”
Georgia officials quickly debunked the allegations, and a yearlong investigation cleared Ms. Moss and Ms. Freeman of any wrongdoing. But Ms. Moss is unrecognizable to herself, paralyzed by fear, anxiety and depression, she said during hours of emotional testimony.
“I’m most afraid that my son will find me and, or my mother, in front of a tree in front of my house,” she said, fighting back tears, as Mr. Giuliani sat nearby and showed no emotion.
It was the second day of the trial, and her testimony brought to life the impact of the baseless allegations that Mr. Giuliani helped promote in the aftermath of Election Day 2020. At the time, Mr. Giuliani served as Mr. Trump’s personal leader. attorney and helped lead efforts to keep him in office after he lost the 2020 election.
The women are seeking damages between $15.5 million and $43 million, an amount that Giuliani’s lawyer said Monday is the civil equivalent of the death penalty.
The judge presiding over the case, Beryl A. Howell, previously ruled that Mr. Giuliani spread lies about the women, deliberately inflicted emotional distress on them and was involved in a conspiracy with others.
Mr Giuliani has yet to testify in court, but despite the judge’s ruling – and his own previous admission that he had made false and defamatory allegations about the women – he repeated his accusations on Monday evening as he left the courthouse.
“Everything I said about them is true,” Mr. Giuliani told reporters. “They were changing votes.”
On Tuesday morning, Judge Howell told Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Sibley IV, that such comments could be considered yet another defamation suit.
When she asked if Mr. Sibley was aware of his client’s statements, Mr. Sibley turned away and said he was not with him at the time, while Mr. Giuliani nodded his head affirmatively behind him. Judge Howell then asked Mr. Giuliani directly if he had made these statements, and he said, “yes.”
The trial is expected to last a week. Ms. Freeman and Mr. Giuliani are expected to testify.