Judge rips Giuliani lawyer for ex-mayor’s absence at Georgia poll worker pretrial hearing

Rudy Giuliani failed to appear at a Tuesday hearing ahead of his defamation trial, resulting in his lawyer receiving a tongue-lashing from the Washington, D.C., federal judge overseeing the case. 

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell harshly questioned lawyer Joseph Sibley over Giuliani’s unexpected absence and whether they were ready for the trial set for next week, which will determine how much money Giuliani owes two Georgia poll workers for defaming them after the 2020 election. 

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss sued Giuliani, a close ally of former President Trump and the ex-mayor of New York, after he made a series of false statements about their work at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, where ballots were being counted. He and other Trump allies falsely claimed the election workers — a mother-daughter duo — committed fraud by processing “suitcases” of illicit ballots. The poll workers were both present in court in Washington on Tuesday.

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Sibley told Howell that Giuliani is in New York and took the blame for his absence, asserting that he misinterpreted the judge’s standing order from September requiring all parties to be present during the trial and at hearings ahead of it. 

“How could you have missed that,” Howell asked Sibley, visibly frustrated. “And did you miss it?”

“I did. … I apologize,” Sibley replied. 

“Well, that sets the tone for this, doesn’t it?” Howell remarked, later adding that Giuliani’s absence is “not a good start to the trial we’re about to begin.” 

The Hill requested comment from Sibley.

The hearing was scheduled to address last-minute logistics ahead of the trial, which is expected to begin Monday with jury selection. 

Lawyers for Freeman and Moss told the judge that they plan to call four witnesses and present clips from several depositions. Among those deposed were two of Giuliani’s co-defendants in the sweeping Georgia racketeering case, Jenna Ellis and Ray Smith III. Trump is also a co-defendant in that case.

Howell remarked that Ellis asserted her Fifth Amendment right more than 400 times during the deposition and Smith more than 300 times. She asked whether Giuliani — who is expected to testify during the defamation trial — intends to assert that right as well. Sibley said he did not think Giuliani plans to do so.

“If he were here, we could find out,” Howell said. 

Giuliani has repeatedly dodged the court’s orders as the case has progressed. After failing to turn over evidence to the poll workers despite “repeated reminders” from the court, Howell in August found him civilly liable for their claims of “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy, and punitive damage.”

“Given the willful shirking of his discovery obligations in anticipation of and during this litigation, Giuliani leaves little other choice,” Howell wrote in her decision. 

Ted Goodman, a political advisor to Giuliani, suggested Howell’s “biases and prejudices are well known” in a Monday statement to The Hill after the judge affirmed that a jury trial would take place. 

A jury of eight Washington residents will be empaneled to decide the case. The trial is expected to last about a week.