After a protracted legal saga in which he was held in contempt twice, Rudy Giuliani has finally put an end to the defamation case brought by two former Georgia election workers, having “fully satisfied” the judgment against him last week.
According to Monday’s federal court filing, Giuliani has satisfied the judgment that required him to pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss nearly $150 million for spreading lies about them after the 2020 election.
It marks the end of the defamation case against Giuliani, which had been drawn out for years as he fought the judgment and continued to spread false claims about the women.
In December 2023, shortly after a jury ordered him to pay nearly $150 million for defaming Freeman and Moss, Giuliani declared bankruptcy, effectively preventing them from collecting on the judgment. Throughout his bankruptcy proceedings, Giuliani missed deadlines, provided incomplete answers or failed to respond to requests about his finances, frustrating creditors and a bankruptcy judge.
The judge subsequently dismissed his bankruptcy case in July 2024 and admonished Giuliani for his conduct during the proceedings. The dismissal of his Chapter 11 bankruptcy allowed Freeman and Moss to pursue collecting the money that Giuliani owed them.
But that process was just as agonizing. Giuliani was cryptic about what assets he had on hand, and he failed to turn over items as he was ordered to. In January, he was found in contempt of court twice: for repeatedly disregarding orders to surrender his assets to Freeman and Moss, and for continuing to defame them.
In late January, when he was due in federal court for a trial over surrendering some of his assets, Giuliani reached a settlement deal with Freeman and Moss. The details have not been made public, though Giuliani said it allowed him to keep his properties in New York and Florida “and all of my personal belongings.”
Giuliani also said that as part of the settlement he would stop repeating the defamatory claims about the women, and that the agreement did not include an admission of guilt.