Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has reached a settlement agreement with two Georgia election workers, allowing him to keep many of his assets and properties in exchange for him never again engaging in the defamation that led to a judgment against him nearly two years ago.
In addition to that stipulation, Giuliani must provide unspecified compensation to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, the election workers he falsely accused of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
“All parties reached a resolution,” Giuliani’s lawyer Joseph Cammarata confirmed on Thursday.
Giuliani, who made the remarks on former President Donald Trump’s behalf, had falsely accused Moss and Freeman of tampering with election ballots, wrongly claiming they had placed fake ballots among real ones being counted in order to help President Joe Biden win the statewide race in Georgia. Even though those claims were debunked shortly after they were initially made, Giuliani continued to peddle the claims, describing the two election workers, who are Black, in racist and disparaging terms, leading to threats of violence against them by supporters of Trump.
A jury awarded Moss and Freeman $148 million in compensatory damages in late 2023. Giuliani was ordered to turn over some of his properties and personal items to help pay that sum, which he has been avoiding up to this point.
Giuliani was supposed to go in front of another judge on Thursday to discuss turning over his property in Florida, as well as New York Yankees championship rings that had been gifted to him, as part of his compensation to the two. Instead, lawyers for the two parties came up with the new agreement, allowing Giuliani to keep his possessions, including some he’s already turned over, he announced in a social media post after the settlement had been reached.
Giuliani also claimed in that post that he doesn’t have to admit his guilt in the matter. However, he already has somewhat — in legal filings in the summer of 2023, his lawyers stated that their client “concedes” that he had “made statements” about the two, and that he “does not contest” that they were “false.”
Both Moss and Freeman lauded the new agreement, saying that it closed a chapter on a dark time in their lives.
“The past four years have been a living nightmare,” the two said in a joint statement. “We have fought to clear our names, restore our reputations, and prove that we did nothing wrong. Today is a major milestone in our journey. We have reached an agreement and we can now move forward with our lives.”
Defying Trump’s right-wing agenda from Day One
Inauguration Day is coming up soon, and at Truthout, we plan to defy Trump’s right-wing agenda from Day One.
Looking to the first year of Trump’s presidency, we know that the most vulnerable among us will be harmed. Militarized policing in U.S. cities and at the borders will intensify. The climate crisis will deteriorate further. The erosion of free speech has already begun, and we anticipate more attacks on journalism.
It will be a terrifying four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. But we’re not falling to despair, because we know there are reasons to believe in our collective power.
The stories we publish at Truthout are part of the antidote to creeping authoritarianism. And this year, we promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation, vitriol, hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please show your support for Truthout with a tax-deductible donation (either once today or on a monthly basis).