A federal judge has held Rudy Giuliani in contempt for continuing to falsely accuse two Georgia women of election fraud in 2020, breaching a court order against further attacking them after the pair won a $148 million defamation suit against him.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell lit into a visibly frustrated Giuliani — seated in her Washington courtroom — saying she had hoped the voluminous evidence that his attacks on Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss were false would have caused him to “stop saying such fabricated lies.”
Moss and Freeman urged Howell to hold Giuliani in contempt after discovering comments he made about them — echoing similar claims at the heart of their original defamation lawsuit — on his podcast in November.
On Friday, Howell agreed, and she ruled that Giuliani must within 10 days sign a declaration swearing that he has reviewed all the evidence and sworn testimony refuting his claims about Moss and Freeman, acknowledging that no sworn testimony or government review has contradicted that evidence and affirming that he had a full opportunity to cross examine all witnesses in their lawsuit. Howell said that if Giuliani doesn’t file this declaration within 10 days, she will begin fining him $200 a day.
Howell opted against putting Giuliani in jail, calling that the most serious option in her quiver, but emphasized that if he continues to violate her orders and fails to pay his fines that would likely be the next punishment.
“I am very concerned based on the statements made during this hearing that Mr. Giuliani may not be persuaded to stop making statements that violate the consent judgment in this case without even more severe sanctions in this case,” Howell said….