(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s close ally and former top campaign lawyer Rudy Giuliani “disgraced” the names of two 2020 Georgia election workers and should pay them millions of dollars in damages, an attorney for the women told jurors at the start of his trial Monday.

With Giuliani looking on in a Washington courtroom, jurors heard audio and saw excerpts of what the plaintiffs said was a small sample of the hundreds of violent and racist messages that Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss received after Giuliani, Trump and others promoted false conspiracy theories about them.

Freeman and Moss’s names were used as a “call to action” for Trump supporters who didn’t want to accept the election results, attorney Von DuBose said during his opening presentation. Trump isn’t a party but was identified by the plaintiffs as being part of the defamation conspiracy.

The former New York City mayor previously was found liable by a federal judge for defaming Freeman and Moss by promoting false claims that they tampered with ballot counting. The trial underway in Washington is only to decide damages.

The election workers are seeking between $15.5 million and $43 million as compensation for the harm to their reputation and tangible losses, like lost wages and the costs of relocating and security. They also want the jury to separately award more damages as a punishment for Giuliani.

‘Death Penalty’

Giuliani’s lawyer Joseph Sibley told the jury that the proposed damages amount was the “civil equivalent of the death penalty” for Giuliani. He acknowledged there was significant evidence about the harm Freeman and Moss suffered, but argued the evidence would show that many other people besides Giuliani were responsible. 

Sibley said he’d propose a dollar amount at the end of the trial but didn’t share what it would be.

The defamation case was filed in December 2021 but became mired over the past year in fights over evidence. The plaintiffs’ lawyers accused Giuliani of failing to search for and turn over information and documents they had asked for. 

In August, US District Judge Beryl Howell entered a judgment against him as a sanction for what she called his “willful shirking” of his obligations. He was found liable for claims of defamation, emotional distress and conspiracy. 

Despite the high-profile nature of the case, few prospective jurors expressed knowing much about it or having opinions about the 2020 election that would make it difficult for them to fairly serve. It took just over two hours to seat the eight-person jury. 

A few potential jurors said they had followed Giuliani online or were aware of his activities from news coverage; one person was excused after sharing she covered the 2020 election aftermath as a journalist and had “pretty strong feelings.” Of the 18 people questioned before the court qualified enough jurors, none answered “yes” to queries aimed at identifying people who denied the 2020 election results or espoused conspiracy theories about the results.

Lawyers for Freeman and Moss are expected to present previously recorded testimony from Trump allies who worked with Giuliani after the election. Those witnesses include Jenna Ellis, an attorney who recently pleaded guilty in a state criminal case in Georgia related to the election; Ray Smith III, another attorney charged in Georgia; Christina Bobb, who has continued to serve as a lawyer for Trump, and Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner. 

Legal Exposure

Freeman and Moss, who testified last year before Congress, are expected to take the stand in the trial, which is estimated to last one week. The jury will also hear from plaintiff witnesses about the volume of threatening and disparaging messages about the two women that spread online and how those echoed language coming from Giuliani at the time. They will also testify to how several dozen specific statements attributed to Giuliani and Trump’s campaign reached millions of people across different platforms.

Sibley said the only witness he expects to call in defense of his client is Giuliani himself.

Separate from the civil suit in Washington, Giuliani is facing criminal charges in Georgia along with Trump. He’s one of the unindicted alleged co-conspirators described in the federal election obstruction indictment against Trump and is facing other civil defamation claims related to election fraud conspiracy theories he and others promoted brought by companies that make voting equipment.

Leading up to the damages trial, Giuliani was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to Freeman and Moss to cover their lawyers’ fees for successfully litigating the issues that came up related to their demands for evidence. 

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