Washington, Dec 14 (EFE).- The defense of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani acknowledged on Thursday during a defamation trial that his client committed “wrongful conduct” when in 2020 he accused Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss of committing electoral fraud in Georgia.
Giuliani, who was a lawyer for former United States President Donald Trump (2017-2021), accused the two women without evidence of having manipulated the results to prevent Trump’s defeat in that state against the current president, Joe Biden.
A federal judge in Washington determined in August that Giuliani is guilty of having defamed the two women and on Thursday the final arguments were held in the trial, where the amount that the former mayor will have to pay to the victims must be determined.
Deliberations will continue on Friday
Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Sibley, acknowledged that his client committed “wrongful conduct” that harmed the plaintiffs but argued that the amount they are asking for in damages, between $15 and $43 million, is too high, local media reported.
In front of the jury, the defense attorney said Giuliani should have behaved better, and added “when you see my client’s state of mind, you’re going to say, you should have been better but weren’t as bad as the plaintiffs make you out to be.”
The former New York mayor and Trump’s former lawyer was expected to testify in Thursday’s session but at the last minute decided not to do so.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Freeman gave an emotional testimony about the threats she and her daughter suffered after the presidential election because of the defamations.
“Giuliani ruined my life,” declared the woman, who still says she is “afraid” to say her name in public places.
In 2020, Guliani and the Trump campaign released a video of Freeman and Moss at a Georgia polling station and falsely claimed that the women were carrying suitcases full of votes. The former mayor has defended that his conduct is protected by freedom of expression.
Trump is accused in two judicial proceedings, one in a federal court in Washington and another in a state court in Georgia, for his attempts to reverse the result of the 2020 elections in which he lost against Biden.
Giuliani is charged in the Georgia case as Trump’s accomplice in the criminal plot. EFE
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