Giuliani ordered to pay over $89K discovery sanction in poll workers' suit
Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, a former Georgia election worker, is comforted by her mother, Ruby Freeman, in June 2022 at a hearing for the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been ordered to pay more than $89,000 to them as a sanction for discovery delays in their defamation lawsuit against him. Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pay more than $89,000 to Georgia poll workers as a sanction for discovery delays in their defamation lawsuit against him.
In a July 13 minute order, U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell of the District of Columbia imposed the sanction amount requested by poll workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, report Law360 and Law & Crime.
The amount represents attorney fees that the poll workers incurred in their motion to compel discovery.
The minute order said Giuliani must pay $89,172.50 by July 25.
Freeman and Moss allege that Giuliani defamed them in podcasts and on the right-wing cable network One America News. They say Giuliani falsely claimed that they were involved in election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, leading to harassment against them.
Freeman and Moss have already reached a settlement with One American News, according to Law360.
Howell asked for a joint status report by Aug. 4 and said she may order more severe sanctions if Giuliani hasn’t complied with her discovery orders by then. Howell is also considering a motion to compel filed by the poll workers in their quest for discovery from two Giuliani businesses.
Freeman and Moss had said Giuliani failed to take reasonable steps to preserve discovery documents and did not produce all materials responsive to their requests. Giuliani has maintained that he already provided all relevant documents that are not protected by attorney-client privilege, according to Law360.
