Giuliani faces second contempt bid over false claims about 2020 election workers

By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump, will appear in court in Washington on Friday when he faces a second attempt this week to hold him in contempt of court in a case brought by two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of helping to rig the 2020 election.

The election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, have alleged that Giuliani violated a previous court agreement to stop making allegations against them.

Giuliani, a former New York mayor, was already held in civil contempt on Monday after a federal judge in New York determined he had not complied with information requests from Freeman and Moss.

The pair brought that case to help enforce a $148 million judgment they won against Giuliani in 2023 as part of a separate lawsuit in Washington accusing Giuliani of destroying their reputations by falsely suggesting they counted illegal ballots following the 2020 election. Giuliani is appealing the decision.

On Friday, Giuliani will appear before U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who could impose civil fines or even order Giuliani jailed if she finds him in contempt.

A second citation for contempt would add to the mounting legal woes facing Giuliani, 80, over his efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Giuliani has been disbarred for making false claims and pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona.

Lawyers for Freeman and Moss alleged that Giuliani violated the court agreement when he suggested on an episode of his podcast that video showed the pair “quadruple counting the ballots” and using a computer hard drive to “fix the machines.”

Lawyers for Giuliani argued in a court filing that it is not clear Giuliani was referring to the two women, whom he did not reference by name on the podcast. They also maintained that the statements were protected because Giuliani was summarizing his legal position on appeal.

The agreement, signed in May 2024 after a jury handed down the $148 million judgment, bars Giuliani from making any public remarks suggesting that Freeman and Moss engaged in wrongdoing surrounding the 2020 election or repeating claims that were previously deemed defamatory.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Alistair Bell)