A federal jury’s $148 million judgment in a Georgia defamation case was only nominally about a hapless has-been named Rudolph Giuliani.
The former New York mayor, whose descent into pathos and corruption needs no retelling here, flagrantly lied about two Georgia election workers, baselessly claiming they had committed fraud while they administered the 2020 election. The lies inspired racist threats against the women — a wholly predictable result given the racial aggression that animates the MAGA base. A jury in Washington, DC, found that Giuliani, who declined to testify and essentially offered no defense, owes massive damages for his calumny.
Giuliani, however, is just a bit player in a larger, longer story. The lies were first planted in the political ground before Giuliani was even mayor of New York. Now, they’re blooming everywhere.
After all, what’s the basis of the criminal case against Donald Trump in Georgia — and of the related plea agreements of MAGA attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell?
Lies about voter fraud.