A federal judge rebuked a lawyer for Rudy Giuliani in court on Tuesday after the former New York City mayor failed to attend a hearing ahead of a jury trial to determine the defamation damages he’ll owe to two Georgia poll workers. The attorney, Joe Sibley, told U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that Giuliani’s unexplained absence was his fault. “How could you have missed that?” Howell demanded, according to Politico. Sibley reiterated that it was “my mistake,” prompting the judge to ask whether he was “falling on his sword” for his client. Both election workers, mother and daughter duo Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, were present in court on Tuesday and “prepared” to confront Giuliani, Politico reported. Giuliani was found liable for defamation in August after Freeman and Moss sued him for falsely claiming they had manipulated ballots in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. “The judges’ biases and prejudices are well known and have been demonstrated throughout this case and many others—where the process is the punishment,” a spokesperson for the former mayor said Tuesday. “In the fullness of time, this will be looked at as a dark chapter in America’s justice system as this whole process is doing great, irreparable harm.”
