This isn’t the first time an absurd ruling has been made against a political enemy of the left. And, lamentably, it almost certainly won’t be the last.
From Robert Legare, Melissa Quinn and Musa Ali’s article for CBS News:
Washington — A federal jury on Friday ordered former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to pay a total of $148 million to two former Georgia election workers who were at the center of baseless claims he spread in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, a stunning award worth nearly $100 million more than the women had sought.
The case was brought by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, her daughter, who sued Giuliani for falsely claiming they engaged in a fake ballot processing scheme while they served as election workers for Fulton County in the last presidential election.
A federal judge in Washington determined earlier this year that Giuliani was liable for defaming Freeman and Moss, and the jury was tasked with determining how much in compensatory and punitive damages to award the mother-and-daughter pair. Freeman sought compensatory damages of $23.9 million for defamation, while Moss was asking for $24.7 million.
The jury awarded the following:
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- $16,171,000 to Freeman in compensatory damages for defamation;
- $16,998,000 for Moss in compensatory damages for defamation;
- $20 million each, or $40 million total, in compensatory damages for emotional distress;
- $75 million in punitive damages for both
Don’t you just love the “neutrality” of that first paragraph; calling Giuliani’s claims “baseless” as a statement of fact rather than as an opinion or a legal ruling subject to challenge is just fine for CBS News (and it is far from the only “news” venue which does the same)?
But let’s assume the worst for Rudy Giuliani. Let’s assume he knew for a fact that the charges against these two women (am I allowed to call them women these days?) were false, but he made them anyway.
$148 MILLION DOLLARS?????????????????
If that makes sense. tell me: how much is Donald Trump owed from every politician who claimed that he colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election? How much does Hillary Clinton owe Trump for having the so-called “Steele dossier” created – almost entirely from Russian sources (there’s the real Russian collusion)?
Don’t hold your breath waiting for any $148 million dollar rulings on those “baseless charges”.
Bottom line? The Giuliani ruling is not insane. That would be an insult to insanity. It is somewhere distantly beyond insane.
But get yourself a Democrat judge, run the trial in a venue that voted 92% Democrat last election, and I guess you can have any result you want.
I assume – or at least would like to think – this underwear-stain on our legal system will be overturned on appeal.
But even if Giuliani eventually never has to pay a dime, he will spend years, and millions, defending himself. And that, folks, is the idea. See, if you lose even when you win, maybe you just shut up and say nothing. A great win for Democrats and the left (very often one and the same).
This is what we’ve become. This is what we’ve degenerated to.
What happened to our country, and how do we get it back?
