Two Georgia election workers are seeking "severe" sanctions and an outright victory in a defamation case against Rudy Giuliani after he failed to produce communications related to former President Donald Trump's 2020 election fraud claims.
Atlanta poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are asking U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell in new court filings to rule "default judgment" in favor of their case as a result of Giuliani's failure to turn over an exchange between himself and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn.
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Freeman and Moss have been subjected to relentless attacks since 2020, when Giuliani and Trump cited them, sometimes by name, to fuel their since-debunked claims of election fraud. The court documents filed on Tuesday include a text thread between Epshteyn, Giuliani, and others on Dec. 7, 2020, that they believe adds to the plaintiffs' claims of defamation.
"Urgent POTUS request need best examples of 'election fraud' that we’ve alleged that’s super easy to explain. Doesn’t necessarily have to be proven, but does need to be easy to understand," Epshteyn wrote.
"The security camera in Atlanta alone captures theft of a minimum of 30,000 votes which alone would change result in Georgia," Giuliani wrote back. "Remember it will live in history as the theft of a state if it is not corrected by State Legislature."
Freeman and Moss said in the court filings that Giuliani did not take "reasonable steps" to preserve, and therefore "failed to produce," electronic evidence that was relevant to the case, despite multiple court orders that required him to do so.
The plaintiffs argue that Howell should impose "severe" sanctions as a result of what they say is Giuliani's repeated and calculated effort to deny demands for evidence, on top of the "default judgment."
"Plaintiffs know that pertinent documentary evidence on those questions existed at one point, based not just on common sense, but also because of discovery productions made by third parties. But Defendant Giuliani himself has never produced meaningful documentary discovery in this case," Freeman and Moss argued.
The court filings also include a log of documents that Giuliani said were privileged. However, the documents hint at efforts by the former lawyer and other Trump officials looking to keep the former president in the White House.
In one exchange, Kenneth Chesebro, the attorney who helped craft the fake electors strategy, sent Giuliani several "draft press releases" that state Republican parties could use to explain the decision to end "alternate" electors to Congress. One document, sent on Dec. 13, 2020, was a draft release for the Michigan Republican Party. Another draft release for the Pennsylvania Republican Party was sent from Chesebro to Giuliani on Dec. 14 of that year.
Freeman and Moss argue that Giuliani "disrespected" the court — "despite being an attorney for over 50 years and barred in this District."
"Issuing the most severe of sanctions here may dissuade Defendant Giuliani from employing the same unlawful tactics in his other pending cases," the plaintiffs argued.
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The poll workers seek an unspecified amount in damages, claiming Giuliani's actions caused severe emotional distress and put them in danger.
Giuliani is facing several other legal inquiries. He is one of more than 50 witnesses interviewed by the Fulton County special grand jury as part of District Attorney Fani Willis's investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 general election in Georgia. Willis has written letters to county officials notifying them that indictments in the case could come about between July 31 and Aug. 18.