Rudy Giuliani's legal strategy in his defamation trial astonished CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, who predicted Thursday that the two election workers the former Trump lawyer defamed will be awarded "massive" damages in their lawsuit against Giuliani. The presiding federal judge already found Giuliani liable for defamation when he falsely accused Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of rigging the 2020 election in the state and repeatedly targeted them. A Washington D.C. jury began deliberating on the amount in damages Giuliani will owe the duo on Thursday. When asked about Giuliani's reneging on taking the stand just minutes before Thursday's proceedings despite insisting that he would be, Honig told CNN's Kaitlan Collins' that Giuliani pulling out was "the smartest move he's made in years."
"I mean, if he had taken the stand, imagine what a catastrophe that would’ve been. This man is a pathological liar. He can’t help himself," he continued. The ex-New York City mayor, rather than show remorse after being found liable, doubled down on his lies, telling reporters outside the courthouse Tuesday that he "told the truth" about the women. “This case is what happens when you combine vicious, over-the-top defamation against innocent victims with the single worst legal strategy ever devised by a human mind,” Honig said. The former federal prosecutor broke down Giuliani and his lawyer's approach to the case, explaining that because they agreed Giuliani was liable and conceded to defamation, he should have gone into the trial expressing remorse in an effort to minimize damages. "Instead, they go in on this damages trial and commit more defamation," Honig concluded. "They are just asking for a massive verdict and I think we’re gonna see that tomorrow."
