Judge rules against Rudy Giuliani in Georgia election workers’ defamation suit – as it happened

A federal judge found Rudy Giuliani liable for defaming two Georgia election workers by spreading unfounded conspiracy theories about their work around the time of the 2020 election. While the exact monetary damages he will pay remain to be determined, the judge has already ordered Giuliani to cough up tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fee reimbursements and penalties in the case. Separately, another judge rejected a key part of former Donald Trump aide Peter Navarro’s defense against his indictment for contempt of Congress, and jury selection in his trial will begin next week.

Here’s what else went on today:

• Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell froze up during a press conference today, his second public health scare in as many months. The 81-year-old had sustained a concussion earlier this year that kept him away from Capitol Hill for weeks.

• Sentencing for members of the Proud Boys militia group was delayed after a judge fell ill. The five defendants convicted on charges related to the January 6 insurrection will now be sentenced starting tomorrow.

• Was Giuliani drunk when he was advising Trump around the time of his 2020 election defeat? Federal prosecutors reportedly want to know.

• A Texas judge blocked a law passed by its Republican-dominated state government that would have blocked a host of local ordinances, including those mandating water breaks for some workers.

• Trump is considering skipping his arraignment in the Georgia election subversion case next week, and instead opting to enter his plea in writing.

At the first debate of the Republican primary process last week, Florida governor Ron DeSantis sidestepped a pointed question from the moderators about his stance on abortion by telling the story of “Penny,” a woman who had survived an abortion.

“She survived multiple abortion attempts. She was left discarded in a pan. Fortunately, her grandmother saved her and brought her to a different hospital,” said DeSantis, who is placing a distant second in most polls to Donald Trump for the GOP’s presidential nomination.

The governor did not provide more details on Penny’s circumstances, but the Associated Press has partially unraveled the tale, which doesn’t quite line up with DeSantis’s recounting.

Here’s more from their story:

The woman is 67-year-old Miriam “Penny” Hopper, a Florida resident who has been told that she survived multiple abortion attempts when she was in the womb. The first, she said in an interview, was by her parents at home and the second by a local doctor who instructed a nurse to discard her in a bedpan after inducing her birth at just 23 weeks gestation.

Hopper said she learned through her father that her parents tried to end the pregnancy at home. There were complications, and they went to the hospital. As the story goes, the doctor did not hear a heartbeat, gave her a shot and instructed the nurse to discard the baby “dead or alive.”

Hopper said she was born and made a squeaky noise but was put on the back porch of the hospital. She said her grandmother discovered her there alive the following day, wrapped in a towel, and she was rushed to another hospital. Hopper was told she stayed there for three-and-a-half months and survived with the help of an incubator. Nurses nicknamed her “Penny” because of her copper-red hair.

“My parents had always told me all my life, ‘You’re a miracle to be alive,’” she said.

Hopper has used her story to partner with anti-abortion organizations nationwide. But doctors who reviewed the story said her birth did not appear to be an attempted abortion and questioned the accuracy of the presumed gestational age.

When Hopper was born in the 1950s, before major advances in care for premature infants, babies born at 23 weeks would have had very little chance of surviving. Even into the early part of this century, the generally accepted “edge of viability” remained around 24 weeks. A pregnancy is considered full-term at 39 to 40 weeks.

Several OB-GYNs said it appears the case was treated as a stillbirth after a doctor was not able to detect a heartbeat. Because the fetus was presumed dead, the procedure performed in the hospital would not be considered an abortion, said Leilah Zahedi-Spung, a maternal fetal medicine physician in Colorado.

A newspaper article documenting Hopper’s miraculous recovery in 1956, the year after her birth, also complicates the tale. The story in the Lakeland Ledger says doctors at a hospital in Wauchula “put forth greater efforts” in keeping the 1 pound, 11 ounce baby alive before she was escorted by police to a larger hospital. She was admitted and placed in an incubator.

“It sounds very much like they anticipated a stillbirth. And when she came out alive, they resuscitated that baby to the best of their abilities and then shipped her off to where she needed to be,” Zahedi-Spung said.

Another news article from The Tampa Tribune said “doctors advised incubation which was not available at Wauchula,” leading to her transfer.

Hopper disputes that doctors initially tried to save her: “I don’t think there was any effort really put forth.”

OB-GYNs who reviewed the details also raised questions about Hopper’s gestational age at birth, saying her recorded birth weight more likely matches a fetus several weeks further along, around 26 or 27 weeks. They said the lungs are not developed enough to breathe at 23 weeks without intense assistance, making it improbable such an infant could survive abandonment for hours outdoors.

Here’s video of Joe Biden’s brief remarks about Mitch McConnell’s health scare today:

At his ongoing press conference addressing the federal government’s response to Hurricane Idalia in Florida and the wildfire that destroyed Lahaina in Hawaii, Joe Biden said he would reach out to Mitch McConnell after he appeared to freeze up while addressing reporters today.

“Mitch is a friend, as you know,” said the president, who served a senator for decades. “People don’t believe that’s the case, we have disagreements politically, but he’s a good friend. So I’m going to try to get in touch with him later this afternoon.”

Biden spoke to McConnell last month after the top Senate Republican suffered a similar health scare.

Ted Goodman, a political adviser to Rudy Giuliani, has released a statement in response to today’s federal court ruling that the former attorney for Donald Trump is liable for defaming two Georgia election workers.

“This is a prime example of the weaponization of the justice system, where the process is the punishment. This decision should be reversed, as Mayor Giuliani is wrongly accused of not preserving electronic evidence that was seized and held by the FBI,” Goodman said.

A judge in Texas has blocked a state law that would override a host of regulations passed by communities in the state – including ordinances in two cities that would mandate workers receive water breaks to protect them from worsening heatwaves.

The city of Houston had sued over the law, and according to Bloomberg Law, Travis county district court judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled it violated the state constitution and blocked its enforcement.

Should Texas’s Republican-controlled government appeal, their petition would be considered by the state supreme court, where GOP justices control all nine seats.

Here’s more from Bloomberg Law:

The law (HB 2127), which its opponents nicknamed the “Death Star” for its potential to broadly kill off local regulations, attempts to override the local governing authority that the Texas Constitution gives to cities with more than 5,000 residents, the City of Houston argued in its lawsuit challenging the measure. It would have been implemented starting Sept. 1.

Ruling from the bench following a Wednesday hearing, Judge Maya Guerra Gamble (D) of the Travis County District Court granted Houston’s request for summary judgment and blocked the preemption law, also denying the state’s motion to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.

Republicans in the statehouse advanced the preemption measure earlier this year with support from business and industry groups, who said it would spare businesses from having to comply with a patchwork of local laws.

But it faced vocal opposition, including from worker advocates and LGBTQ+ rights groups. Its opponents said it would preempt safety protections such as Austin and Dallas laws requiring water breaks for outdoor workers as well as local nondiscrimination ordinances that prevent bias in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The law creates a private enforcement mechanism, inviting businesses and individuals to sue cities to challenge ordinances they believe are preempted by state law. It bars local regulation in eight broadly defined policy areas unless specifically authorized by the state: agriculture, finance, insurance, labor, natural resources, property, business and commerce, and occupations.

Texas already specifically preempts cities from certain kinds of ordinances, such as minimum wages that apply to private businesses. Houston argued the Texas Constitution allows the state to preempt local regulations only where there’s a clear conflict between the state and local law.

Concerns have been mounting about the health of top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell over the past months.

In March, the 81-year-old fell and sustained a concussion which kept him away from Capitol hill for weeks. Last month, he appeared to freeze up during a press conference, before being led away by other Republican senators.

After that episode, reports emerged that McConnell, who has represented Kentucky since 1985 and led the Senate when Republicans held the majority from 2015 to 2021, fell earlier in July while disembarking from a plane at the airport. Here’s more on those episodes, from the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly:

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, suffered an initially unreported fall earlier this month, before a very public health scare this week revived questions about his age and fitness.

On Wednesday, while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol, the 81-year-old appeared to freeze for nearly 20 seconds. Another Republican senator, John Barrasso of Wyoming, a doctor, then escorted his leader away from the cameras.

Only four months ago, McConnell, who suffered from polio as a child, affecting his gait, fell and sustained a concussion, leading to a prolonged absence from Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday, he returned to work and told reporters he was “fine” shortly after his incident. An aide told reporters McConnell “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment. He came back to handle Q and A.”

But NBC News then reported that McConnell also tripped and fell earlier this month, suffering a “face plant” while disembarking a plane at Reagan airport, according to an anonymous witness.

Another source told NBC McConnell now uses a wheelchair as a precaution in crowded airports. McConnell did not comment on the NBC report.

As Republicans relentlessly claim Joe Biden, 80, is too old to be president, McConnell’s freeze and news of another fall revived questions about his own age.

Fox News has more details from top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell’s office on his apparent freezing up during a press conference this afternoon:

“We are stopping the flow at the border,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question on New York City mayor Eric Adams’ comments he made about “any plan that does not include stopping the flow at the border is a failed plan.”

“What the president has been able to do on his own, without the help of Republicans in Congress, something that he had to do on his own again because Republicans refuse to give the funding necessary to deal with the situation, a broken immigration system that has been broken for decades.

What they choose to do is play politics,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to Republicans.

Earlier this week, Adams issued harsh words surrounding the increasing number of migrants in New York City, saying, “We have no more room.” In recent months, Republican state leaders have been shuttling migrants to larger Democratic-led cities including Los Angeles and New York City in opposition to current border policies.

“We should take politics out of any type of disaster we see that the American people are having to suffer or deal with … This is not about politics,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing when asked about Hurricane Idalia.

“[President Joe Biden] is going to be closely watching this, getting updated regularly to make sure that the people in Georgia, in South Carolina, in Florida are getting exactly what they need,” Jean-Pierre added.

Additional updates on Hurricane Idalia can be found at our separate live blog here:

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell froze while speaking to reporters in Covington, Kentucky, on Wednesday.

McConnell, 81, stopped for over 30 seconds after he was asked whether he would seek re-election.

At one point, an aide approached McConnell and asked, “Did you hear the question, senator?” McConnell continued to remain unresponsive before he appeared to re-engage again, only to have several questions repeated to him multiple times, NBC reports.

Last month, McConnell froze for 19 seconds while speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill before being escorted away temporarily.

Democratic representative Ro Khanna of California has said that court dates interferring with Donald Trump’s campaign schedule is unfair.

In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday, Khanna said:

“My instinct on all of this is they’re not going to have trials in the middle of something that’s going to compromise a candidate’s ability to have a fair fight…

I just don’t see that happening in our country…

You can’t just say OK, because someone was president or someone is a candidate, that you’re above the law. Everyone is under the law, and that allegations, the evidence needs to be pursued. But what we’re discussing is the timing.

Trump, who turned himself into Fulton county jail last week in Atlanta, Georgia is currently facing 91 criminal charges across four indictments over interference with the 2020 presidential election results, illegal retention of confidential documents from the White House and hush-money payments.

For the full story, click here:

A federal judge has found Rudy Giuliani liable for defaming two Georgia election workers by reciting unfounded conspiracy theories about their work around the time of the 2020 election. While exact damages remain to be determined, the judge has already ordered Giuliani to pay tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fee reimbursements and penalties in the case. Separately, another judge rejected a key part of former Donald Trump aide Peter Navarro’s defense against his indictment for contempt of Congress, and jury selection in his trial will begin next week.

Here’s what else has gone on today:

• Sentencing for members of the Proud Boys militia group was delayed after a judge fell ill. The five defendants convicted on charges related to the January 6 insurrection will now be sentenced starting tomorrow.

• Was Giuliani drunk when he was advising Trump around the time of his 2020 election defeat? Federal prosecutors reportedly want to know.

• Trump is considering skipping his arraignment in the Georgia election subversion case next week, and opting instead to enter his plea in writing.

In an interview with a conservative commentator yesterday, the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports that Donald Trump made clear what he would do if he wins next year’s presidential election:

Donald Trump says he will lock up his political enemies if he is president again.

In an interview on Tuesday, the rightwing broadcaster Glenn Beck raised Trump’s famous campaign-trail vow to “lock up” Hillary Clinton, his opponent in 2016, a promise Trump did not fulfill in office.

Beck said: “Do you regret not locking [Clinton] up? And if you’re president again, will you lock people up?”

Trump said: “The answer is you have no choice, because they’re doing it to us.”

Trump has encouraged the “lock her up” chant against other opponents but he remains in considerable danger of being locked up himself.

Under four indictments, he faces 91 criminal charges related to election subversion, retention of classified information and hush-money payments to a adult film star. He denies wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of political persecution. Trials are scheduled next year.

Earlier this month, Politico calculated that Trump faced a maximum of 641 years in jail. After the addition of 13 racketeering and conspiracy charges in Georgia, Forbes upped the total to more than 717 years.

Trump is 77.

Both sites noted, however, that if convicted, the former president was unlikely to receive maximum sentences. Nor would convictions bar Trump from running for president or being elected. On that score, Trump dominates national and key state polling regarding the Republican presidential nomination.

Politico has obtained the full schedule for the sentencing of the Proud Boys militia group members convicted of seditious conspiracy over their roles in the January 6 attack:

Enrique Tarrio, the group’s former leader, and Joseph Biggs, a self-described Proud Boys organizer, were to be sentenced today, but the hearing was called off when the judge fell ill, the Associated Press reports. Prosecutors are requesting some of the highest sentences yet in any of the January 6 prosecutions for members of the group:

Rolling Stone reports that prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s office have been asking witnesses if Rudy Giuliani was drinking while giving advice to Donald Trump around the time of the 2020 election:

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office has repeatedly grilled witnesses about Rudy Giuliani’s drinking on and after election day, investigating whether Donald Trump was knowingly relying on an inebriated attorney while trying to overturn a presidential election.

In their questioning of multiple witnesses, Smith’s team of federal investigators have asked questions about how seemingly intoxicated Giuliani was during the weeks he was giving Trump advice on how to cling to power, according to a source who’s been in the room with Smith’s team, one witness’s attorney, and a third person familiar with the matter.

The special counsel’s team has also asked these witnesses if Trump had ever gossiped with them about Giuliani’s drinking habits, and if Trump had ever claimed Giuliani’s drinking impacted his decision making or judgment. Federal investigators have inquired about whether the then-president was warned, including after Election Night 2020, about Giuliani’s allegedly excessive drinking. They have also asked certain witnesses if Trump was told that the former New York mayor was giving him post-election legal and strategic advice while inebriated.

Stories about Giuliani’s drinking have circulated for a while, but as the Rolling Stone report makes clear, whether or not he was inebriated while advising Trump during the period when he sought to overturn his election defeat may prove crucial to the former president’s ability to defend himself from Smith’s indictment:

Federal prosecutors often aren’t interested in investigating mere alcohol consumption. But according to lawyers and witnesses who’ve been in the room with special counsel investigators, Smith and his team are interested in this subject because it could help demonstrate that Trump was implementing the counsel of somebody he knew to be under the influence and perhaps not thinking clearly. If that were the case, it could add to federal prosecutors’ argument that Trump behaved with willful recklessness in his attempts nullify the 2020 election — by relying heavily on a lawyer he believed to be working while inebriated, and another who he bashed for spouting “crazy” conspiracy theories that Trump ran with anyway.

And if federal prosecutors were to make this argument in court, it could undermine Trump and his legal team’s “advice of counsel” defense. To avoid legal consequences or even possible prison time, the ex-president is already wielding this legal defense to try to scapegoat lawyers who advised him on overturning the election — even though these attorneys were only acting on Trump’s behalf, or doing what Trump had instructed them to do.

“In order to rely upon an advice of counsel defense, the defendant has to, number one, have made full disclosure of all material facts to the attorney,” explains Mitchell Epner, a former Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. “That requires that the attorney understands what’s being told to them. If you know that your attorney is drunk, that does not count as making full disclosure of all material facts.”

In July, Rudy Giuliani admitted in a court filing that he had made false statements about Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, the two Georgia election workers who were suing him for defamation.

But as the Guardian’s Michael Sainato reported at the time, an attorney for Giuliani said the admission was just part of their legal strategy.

“Mayor Rudy Giuliani did not acknowledge that the statements were false but did not contest it in order to move on to the portion of the case that will permit a motion to dismiss,” Goodman said. “This is a legal issue, not a factual issue. Those out to smear the mayor are ignoring the fact that this stipulation is designed to get to the legal issues of the case.”

That strategy appears to have backfired today, after a judge found Giuliani liable for defaming them and issued a summary judgment against him, which could result in the former Donald Trump attorney paying substantial damages.

In a hearing before the January 6 committee last year, Moss and Freeman detailed how the campaign against them upended their lives. Here’s the report from the Guardian’s Martin Pengelly on their testimony:

In powerful and emotional testimony about the sinister results of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, a mother and daughter who were Georgia elections workers described how Trump and his allies upended their lives, fueling harassment and racist threats by claiming they were involved in voter fraud.

Testifying to the January 6 committee in Washington, Shaye Moss said she received “a lot of threats. Wishing death upon me. Telling me that I’ll be in jail with my mother and saying things like, ‘Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.’”

That was a reference to lynching, the violent extra-judicial fate of thousands of Black men in the American south.

Moss also said her grandmother’s home had been threatened by Trump supporters seeking to make “citizen’s arrests” of the two poll workers.

No Democratic presidential candidate had won Georgia since 1992 but Joe Biden beat Trump by just under 12,000 votes, a result confirmed by recounts.