Rudy Giuliani must pay $148.7 million to two Georgia election workers. A Washington DC jury delivered this decision after deliberating for 10 hours on the amount that the former mayor of New York should pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for claiming that both had committed fraud during the 2020 presidential elections.

During the four-day civil trial, Freeman and Moss described how their lives had taken a radical turn following Giuliani’s statements, resulting in them receiving violent and racist threats. Indeed, their legal strategy was based on how both suffered defamation and consequently had to live very discreetly.

“Dec. 4, 2020, was the last day I was this outgoing, happy, bubbly Shaye. That was the day that everything in my life changed; everything just flipped upside down,” Moss testified during the trial. “What is my name today Who am I today? What name am I gonna use? I can’t say who I am,” Freeman said.

The cover of the lawsuit was for “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage.” Of the $148.7 million to be paid, $17 million will go to Moss for defamation, to which another $20 million must be added for emotional distress. Freeman will receive $16.2 million for defamation and $20 million for the emotional distress caused. In turn, they received an additional $75 million in punitive damages.

On the defense side, attorney Joseph Sibley tried to convince the jury that his client should not be forced to pay so much money for his claims, given that he was not directly responsible for the threats suffered against the two women.

“I have no doubt that Mr. Giuiani’s statements caused harm; no question about it. But just because these things happened, it doesn’t make my client responsible for them,” the lawyer said in his final argument. “You have to send a message to the country with this verdict that we don’t have blue-state and red-state America when it comes to justice. Justice isn’t red or blue,” Sibley added.

Giuliani’s response: “We will have more to say”

Minutes after the news broke, the former presidential candidate also spoke from his X account (formerly Twitter) to criticize both the amount and the judicial process. “The absurdity of the amount is indicative of the absurdity and unfairness of the entire proceeding,” Giuliani began.

“It bore no resemblance to a trial in a country with the rule of law. I wasn’t able to offer any evidence in my defense. We’ll have more to say and look forward to the appeal,” he said.