Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, submitted a court filing just before midnight Tuesday admitting that statements made accusing two Georgia electoral workers of fraud following the 2020 presidential election were “false.”

“The Defendant Giuliani, for the purposes of this litigation only, does not contest that, to the extent the statements were of fact and otherwise actionable, such actionable factual statements are false,” a copy of the legal document reads.

Moreover, “Giuliani does not contest, solely for the purposes of this litigation, including on any appeal in this litigation, the factual elements of liability,” the letter, written by the lawyer himself, added.

The filing further elaborated that Giuliani’s comments “carry meaning that is defamatory, per se,” but that such expressions were “constitutionally protected statements or opinions.”

In December 2021, Wandrea “Shay” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, filed a lawsuit with the federal court in Washington, D.C., accusing Giuliani, who served as mayor of New York City from 1994 until 2001, of making defamatory statements about them on the One America News Network (OAN).

The complaint centered around an edited clip shown on the news network during which Giuliani accused the duo of swapping USB drives “like vials of heroin or cocaine” as proof of election fraud. According to Moss’s later testimony before the House Select Committee Investigating the January 6th Attack, she simply handed her mother a mint.

“Both women are afraid to live normal lives,” the lawsuit argued. “Ms. Freeman is fearful when she hears her name called in public; Ms. Moss now fears risking even a visit to the grocery store and must get her groceries delivered instead. Defendants have inflicted, and continue to inflict, severe and ongoing emotional and economic damage.”

“They found themselves in this unenviable position not based on anything they did, but instead because of a campaign of malicious lies designed to accuse them of interfering with a fair and impartial election, which is precisely what each of them swore an oath to protect.”

OAN chief executive Robert Herring, who was personally named in the lawsuit, dismissed the accusations at the time. “I know all about it and I’m laughing,” the business executive told Reuters. “I’m laughing about the four or five others who are suing me. Eventually, it will turn on them and go the other way.”