- The Washington Times - Saturday, December 16, 2023

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani decried the multimillion-dollar verdict against him after he was found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers, and he might need help paying the fine.

An eight-person jury ruled that Mr. Giuliani must pay $148 million in damages to mother and daughter plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss after a federal judge found him liable for defaming the duo.

In an appearance on Newsmax Friday after the ruling, Mr. Giuliani quipped with host Greg Kelly that he needs money.

“You got any money you can loan me, Greg?” Mr. Giuliani said.

He continued, “How can you not be so sad for the country? Here I am in the District of Columbia. The first time I came here, I had goosebumps. I’m gonna leave here thinking that this District of Columbia court is a fascist court.”

Mr. Giuliani was found liable for spreading false claims that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss engaged in a fake ballot processing scheme while they worked as election workers in Fulton County.

Mr. Giuliani, who was a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, accused District Court Judge Beryl Howell, who oversaw the case, of being biased against him.

The former mayor said that he didn’t realize that Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, filed an ethics complaint against Judge Howell on Friday.

Mrs. Stefanik’s complaint targeted Judge Howell for a “highly inappropriate” speech she gave last month in which the judge blamed the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the Capitol on “big lies” and raised the alarm of a “troubling moment in this country” where facts are “dismissed or ignored.”

“That is not a role for a judge,” Mr. Giuliani said. “I know when she was assigned to the case, I knew we were dead. I didn’t realize we were that dead.”

• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.

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