According to Mediate, Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and one-time attorney for Donald Trump, remains steadfast in his refusal to retract false claims despite a recent jury decision awarding $148 million in damages to two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The pair had sued Giuliani for defamation over his baseless accusations that they used USB drives to manipulate the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
Even after the substantial damages were awarded and the filing of a new defamation lawsuit by Freeman and Moss, Giuliani has shown no sign of backing down from his unfounded allegations. In an appearance on Newsmax, host Rob Schmitt asked Giuliani if he still believed his initial allegations to be true. Giuliani responded affirmatively, asserting that he would not lie for the plaintiffs and suggesting that they were suing him to force him to do so.
Giuliani further defended his stance by claiming that he possessed evidence supporting his allegations, and he contended that his statements only needed to be supportable, not necessarily absolutely true. He argued that the burden was on the plaintiffs to prove that he deliberately lied, emphasizing that he had a substantial basis for his claims.
The former Trump attorney also expressed frustration with the legal proceedings, calling it the most outrageous case he had ever encountered. Notably, Judge Beryl Howell had ruled in August that Giuliani was liable for defamation, citing his failure to comply with discovery obligations and his apparent concession that he had made false claims.
Giuliani’s refusal to retract his statements and his insistence on the validity of his claims highlight the ongoing challenges in addressing misinformation and the consequences that legal battles may have on public discourse and individuals targeted by false allegations.
