On the other hand, defamation can ring the cash register.
Google. A jury initially ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million (specifically $148.1 million) in damages to Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for defamation, including punitive and emotional distress damages, but in early 2025, Giuliani reached a settlement to satisfy this debt, with reports indicating he began transferring assets like his New York City apartment to cover it.
Initial Jury Verdict (December 2023)
Total Award: $148.1 million.
For Ruby Freeman: $16.17 million in compensatory damages + $20 million for emotional distress.
For Shaye Moss: $16.99 million in compensatory damages + $20 million for emotional distress.
Punitive Damages: $75 million (split between them).
Settlement & Asset Transfer (Early 2025)
Giuliani failed to pay the judgment, leading to further legal action where Freeman and Moss sought to seize his assets.
In January/February 2025, Giuliani reached a settlement to satisfy the debt, agreeing to transfer assets, including his $6 million NYC apartment, to the election workers.
According to Google, the largest defamation settlement was $787.5 million from Fox News to Dominion.
So far, Trump has been ordered to pay a total of $88.3 million in defamation damages to E. Jean Carroll across two lawsuits, which he is currently appealing. It has also been reported that he has paid an additional $15 million to settle a separate defamation lawsuit with ABC News.
There is an active and pending defamation case against Donald Trump as a defendant in Pennsylvania, filed by the five men formerly known as the "Central Park Five".
Here's the status of the case:
Case Name: Salaam, et al. v. Trump.
Status: The case is ongoing and proceeding toward discovery and trial. A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Wendy Beetlestone, has repeatedly rejected motions by Trump's legal team to dismiss the lawsuit.
Details: The five men, who were wrongfully convicted in the 1989 rape and assault of a jogger in Central Park and later exonerated, sued Trump in October 2024. The lawsuit stems from statements Trump made during a September 2024 presidential debate where he allegedly reiterated false claims about the men's involvement and guilty pleas.
Key Rulings:
In an April 2025 ruling, Judge Beetlestone denied Trump's motion to dismiss the case, stating that his comments could be "objectively determined" as false statements of fact, not opinion, and therefore could be the basis for a defamation claim.
In a June 2025 ruling, she rejected Trump's argument that Pennsylvania's Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law should apply to the federal case, thus allowing the suit to proceed.
The judge did dismiss the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, but the core defamation claims remain active.
The parties are preparing for the next stages of the litigation, and the case remains a pending legal matter for Donald Trump as a defendant.
Florida Lawsuit (2016 Election-related): In a separate case concerning a 2022 lawsuit Trump filed regarding the 2016 election (alleging a conspiracy by Hillary Clinton and others), a federal judge sanctioned Trump and his lead counsel, Alina Habba, ordering them to pay nearly $1 million in defendants' attorney fees for filing a case that "should never have been brought". An appeals court upheld this penalty in November 2025, and both are appealing to the Supreme Court.
Targeting of Lawyers: After his 2024 re-election, President Trump issued a memorandum in March 2025 targeting lawyers and law firms he deems responsible for filing frivolous lawsuits against his administration, with potential penalties including revoking security clearances or terminating federal contracts. This has been criticized as an attempt to stifle legal opposition, but it's an action taken by Trump, not a sanction against him related to the 2020 election.
Sanctions Against Trump-Allied Lawyers
Several attorneys who represented Trump or his campaign in 2020 election litigation have faced severe sanctions:
Michigan Lawsuit: U.S. District Judge Linda Parker ordered nine attorneys, including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, to pay over $150,000 in legal fees to the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit for what she called a "historic and profound abuse of the judicial process". The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal in February 2024, so these sanctions stand and the money is being collected.
Colorado Lawsuit: Two other attorneys, Ernest Walker and Gary Fielder, were ordered to pay $187,000 in attorney fees for a "fantastical" lawsuit seeking $160 billion in damages.
Arizona Lawsuit: A federal court sanctioned three attorneys, including Alan Dershowitz and Kurt Olsen, ordering them to pay $122,200 for claims that lacked an adequate factual or legal basis.
Disciplinary Actions: Many of the sanctioned attorneys were also referred to their state bar associations for potential disciplinary action, including suspension or disbarment.
Other Related Cases & Pardons
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell reached confidential settlements in late 2025 in major defamation lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
In November 2025, Trump issued pardons to scores of lawyers accused of attempting to interfere in the 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, and Mark Meadows. These pardons may address potential criminal charges related to their election activities but do not typically apply to civil sanctions or state-level professional disciplinary proceedings.
All these lawsuits, even the sanctions, and yet he trundles on as if nothing has happened.
Not one of them has caused or forced Trump to reverse course, rather the doubles down.
Here is a kicker, if there is an honest election in 2028, and Trump loses, everyone of his Cabinet officers and advisors would be subject to prosecution.
You are citing civil suits, they are quite a bid different than suits that challenge presidential authority.
When it comes to those law suits, whichare the important ones, the outcome is different.
The White House has won 20 times at the Supreme Court since Trump took office and is on a 16-case winning run. The last loss was in May.
“They’re ecstatic,” a person close to the White House said of the series of recent legal wins, adding that officials do not want to overplay their hand at the court.
But only a small number of the more than 300 active lawsuits filed against the Trump administration have made it to the Supreme Court.
So far, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on an emergency basis 28 times, according to an NBC News tally. It has lost only two. Four cases are pending, although the court issued temporary wins to the government in one of them while it decides what next steps to take. Three others resulted in no decision.
Law suits that involve renumeration aren't going to save our souls. The only rulings that matter, that will save our democracy, are law suits that stop Trump, Miller, and this cabinet intheir tracks, and there are none of those.
Where SCOTUS rule against Trump, He simply ignores the ruling, the only department that can enforce the ruling is DOJ, and we know how that goes.
Rudy was stupid. He should have known better. Had he followed the law (He is a disgraced & disbarred lawyer & former Federal prosecutor) none of this would have happened to him. So should anyone feel sorry for him because he was so gullible & stupid? ...hell no.
He was among the low hanging fruit in the Trump prosecutions. The Biden administration chose not to go after the easy targets in lieu of the prosecutions of Trump. His conduct probably rose to the level as a potential co-defendant in the DC case.
It's water under the dam, but IMHO had DOJ picked the fruit, as it usually does, all of usual suspects, including Guiliani, would have sold out Trump.
How about the Who, What, When, How and Why of any of the lawfully ordained payments to be made ( and not made) to the victims of the above discussions? Justice delayed is justice denied is justice forgotten. Mindboggling.
Anybody with graduate training in clinical psychology would read Thom's chapter as evidence of narcissistic personality disorder amplified by dementia. Put in lay terms, Trump is off his nut. This is particularly problematic when it comes to leaders of governments because narcissistic psychopaths are incapable of love or trust, much less empathy. Thus, they are out of touch with the governed.
Demented narcissists have no sense of shame or dishonor. Consequently, they have no friends, just henchmen and employees. The song "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places" defines their search for satisfaction in life exclusively through the dominance of others.
It is crystal clear that American Democracy is not capable of dealing with fascist leaders who only wish to rule, not govern. Despite Article 25, which was designed to enable cabinets to replace mentally disabled presidents, Trump's deteriorating mind is not even publicly discussed. Despite trainloads of impulsive and reckless actions like bombing Nigeria, Syria, and Iran or embargoing Cuba and Venezuela - all of which pose no danger to America, the MSM and Congressional Democrats just shrug. Our MSM now routinely edits out incoherent babbling in presidential addresses to hide Trump's dementia rather than to amplify it with a tone of concern.
America's democracy is on its deathbed, and all we do is express sympathy.
I can’t help feeling apprehensive about future treatment of vote counters, election officials, and poll workers especially in midwestern states.
These positions should be appreciated by the community and be bulwarks against fascism and instead could be routinely turned into positions inviting character destruction, criticism, black listing, derision, and outright slander with more frequency.
What would encourage districts that are skewed toward red or leaning to purple in political numbers, especially in tight national races or even local elections, to allocate funds to protect election workers especially if they are all afraid to stand out or afraid of being targeted or otherwise punished for promoting the liberal side?
It’s not just about voting.
It’s about honestly and integrity. These two factors seem to be eroding faster than I could have ever imagined. It’s not just about not caring or turning away, it’s about fear and self-preservation, especially if you are in the minority in opinion, or race, in religion, etc., etc.
If the 2026 mid-term election takes place as planned, Dictator Donny will never concede any loss. The political party that controls the House or Senate will not be known until well into 2027. Dictator Donny cannot lose either the House or the Senate and continue his chaotic and corrupt rule of the country. What Dictator Donny is doing cannot be mistaken for governing; it is tyrannical rule. We will be forced to watch a level of corruption and shenanigans with a mid-term election taking place as we have never seen before. The Republican Party will have to cheat, and I emphasize cheat, as much as possible to go against what mid-term elections have shown us when a president has this low of poll numbers. Again, it is still at best a 50/50 proposition that there will be a 2026 mid-term election.
We have to understand that Trump needs to shut down 2026 elections. He knows that his hold over Congress cannot survive free and fair elections in the face of his and his administration’s massive unpopularity. Trump knows that even the nefarious chipping away at election integrity that he is currently engaged in could not guarantee him a win in the face of a tidal wave of voter opposition. He needs a shut down.
Just a single, simple sentence included in the DOJ Memorandum for All Federal Prosecutors of December 4, 2025, provides the first concrete evidence that Trump and the DOJ are preparing the justification for shutting down the 2026 elections. The sentence reads: “Particularly dangerous are those acts committed by violent, extremest groups that threaten both citizens’ safety and our country’s ability to self-govern.”
In other words, any concocted story about a threat by Antifa to attack polling places would “threaten citizens’ safety” and “our country’s ability to self-govern.” and would, therefore, justify taking action to shut down the elections.
What worries me is that for 230 years, Americans have self-governed through elections—so reliably, in fact, that the practice is now taken for granted. We cannot even imagine a threat to them taking place, much less having them shut down, and I fear that for that reason, Americans may not recognize this threat and take it seriously.
But make no mistake. In a desperate attempt to stay in power and extend their financial feeding frenzy, our oligarchy has installed a straight out sociopath (malignant narcissist) as the head of the country and the free world, and there are no limits on the extent to which he will go to achieve total control and power.
We have to recognize the threat. I think if Americans really “get it,” their outrage will trigger such an overwhelming response that even Trump will get the message. There is no doubt that when unified, the American people can re-establish their rightful control over this country. Shea Foote @ Substack.com
A lie goes twice around the world, before the truth gets it's boots on. Mark Twain.
it;s human nature, The bully runs to the principle whining because the victim hit him back and broke his nose. The victim gets suspended.
The abuser calls the police with a complaint against the abused. Guess who the cops arrest.
Who ever gets to the punishing authority first, is believed.
If you have any siblings you know what I am talking about.
On the other hand, defamation can ring the cash register.
Google. A jury initially ordered Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million (specifically $148.1 million) in damages to Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for defamation, including punitive and emotional distress damages, but in early 2025, Giuliani reached a settlement to satisfy this debt, with reports indicating he began transferring assets like his New York City apartment to cover it.
Initial Jury Verdict (December 2023)
Total Award: $148.1 million.
For Ruby Freeman: $16.17 million in compensatory damages + $20 million for emotional distress.
For Shaye Moss: $16.99 million in compensatory damages + $20 million for emotional distress.
Punitive Damages: $75 million (split between them).
Settlement & Asset Transfer (Early 2025)
Giuliani failed to pay the judgment, leading to further legal action where Freeman and Moss sought to seize his assets.
In January/February 2025, Giuliani reached a settlement to satisfy the debt, agreeing to transfer assets, including his $6 million NYC apartment, to the election workers.
According to Google, the largest defamation settlement was $787.5 million from Fox News to Dominion.
So far, Trump has been ordered to pay a total of $88.3 million in defamation damages to E. Jean Carroll across two lawsuits, which he is currently appealing. It has also been reported that he has paid an additional $15 million to settle a separate defamation lawsuit with ABC News.
There is an active and pending defamation case against Donald Trump as a defendant in Pennsylvania, filed by the five men formerly known as the "Central Park Five".
Here's the status of the case:
Case Name: Salaam, et al. v. Trump.
Status: The case is ongoing and proceeding toward discovery and trial. A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Wendy Beetlestone, has repeatedly rejected motions by Trump's legal team to dismiss the lawsuit.
Details: The five men, who were wrongfully convicted in the 1989 rape and assault of a jogger in Central Park and later exonerated, sued Trump in October 2024. The lawsuit stems from statements Trump made during a September 2024 presidential debate where he allegedly reiterated false claims about the men's involvement and guilty pleas.
Key Rulings:
In an April 2025 ruling, Judge Beetlestone denied Trump's motion to dismiss the case, stating that his comments could be "objectively determined" as false statements of fact, not opinion, and therefore could be the basis for a defamation claim.
In a June 2025 ruling, she rejected Trump's argument that Pennsylvania's Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law should apply to the federal case, thus allowing the suit to proceed.
The judge did dismiss the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, but the core defamation claims remain active.
The parties are preparing for the next stages of the litigation, and the case remains a pending legal matter for Donald Trump as a defendant.
Sanctions Against Donald Trump
Florida Lawsuit (2016 Election-related): In a separate case concerning a 2022 lawsuit Trump filed regarding the 2016 election (alleging a conspiracy by Hillary Clinton and others), a federal judge sanctioned Trump and his lead counsel, Alina Habba, ordering them to pay nearly $1 million in defendants' attorney fees for filing a case that "should never have been brought". An appeals court upheld this penalty in November 2025, and both are appealing to the Supreme Court.
Targeting of Lawyers: After his 2024 re-election, President Trump issued a memorandum in March 2025 targeting lawyers and law firms he deems responsible for filing frivolous lawsuits against his administration, with potential penalties including revoking security clearances or terminating federal contracts. This has been criticized as an attempt to stifle legal opposition, but it's an action taken by Trump, not a sanction against him related to the 2020 election.
Sanctions Against Trump-Allied Lawyers
Several attorneys who represented Trump or his campaign in 2020 election litigation have faced severe sanctions:
Michigan Lawsuit: U.S. District Judge Linda Parker ordered nine attorneys, including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, to pay over $150,000 in legal fees to the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit for what she called a "historic and profound abuse of the judicial process". The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal in February 2024, so these sanctions stand and the money is being collected.
Colorado Lawsuit: Two other attorneys, Ernest Walker and Gary Fielder, were ordered to pay $187,000 in attorney fees for a "fantastical" lawsuit seeking $160 billion in damages.
Arizona Lawsuit: A federal court sanctioned three attorneys, including Alan Dershowitz and Kurt Olsen, ordering them to pay $122,200 for claims that lacked an adequate factual or legal basis.
Disciplinary Actions: Many of the sanctioned attorneys were also referred to their state bar associations for potential disciplinary action, including suspension or disbarment.
Other Related Cases & Pardons
Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell reached confidential settlements in late 2025 in major defamation lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
In November 2025, Trump issued pardons to scores of lawyers accused of attempting to interfere in the 2020 election, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, and Mark Meadows. These pardons may address potential criminal charges related to their election activities but do not typically apply to civil sanctions or state-level professional disciplinary proceedings.
All these lawsuits, even the sanctions, and yet he trundles on as if nothing has happened.
Not one of them has caused or forced Trump to reverse course, rather the doubles down.
Here is a kicker, if there is an honest election in 2028, and Trump loses, everyone of his Cabinet officers and advisors would be subject to prosecution.
But that will never happen Daniel.
As if anything is a forgone conclusion.
Ask Guiliani et all what happened to them.
You are citing civil suits, they are quite a bid different than suits that challenge presidential authority.
When it comes to those law suits, whichare the important ones, the outcome is different.
The White House has won 20 times at the Supreme Court since Trump took office and is on a 16-case winning run. The last loss was in May.
“They’re ecstatic,” a person close to the White House said of the series of recent legal wins, adding that officials do not want to overplay their hand at the court.
But only a small number of the more than 300 active lawsuits filed against the Trump administration have made it to the Supreme Court.
So far, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on an emergency basis 28 times, according to an NBC News tally. It has lost only two. Four cases are pending, although the court issued temporary wins to the government in one of them while it decides what next steps to take. Three others resulted in no decision.
I changed the first sentence from 19 to 20, because it was written before Trump v Slaughter Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/white-house-long-string-supreme-court-victories-rcna230870
Law suits that involve renumeration aren't going to save our souls. The only rulings that matter, that will save our democracy, are law suits that stop Trump, Miller, and this cabinet intheir tracks, and there are none of those.
Where SCOTUS rule against Trump, He simply ignores the ruling, the only department that can enforce the ruling is DOJ, and we know how that goes.
Rudy was stupid. He should have known better. Had he followed the law (He is a disgraced & disbarred lawyer & former Federal prosecutor) none of this would have happened to him. So should anyone feel sorry for him because he was so gullible & stupid? ...hell no.
He was among the low hanging fruit in the Trump prosecutions. The Biden administration chose not to go after the easy targets in lieu of the prosecutions of Trump. His conduct probably rose to the level as a potential co-defendant in the DC case.
It's water under the dam, but IMHO had DOJ picked the fruit, as it usually does, all of usual suspects, including Guiliani, would have sold out Trump.
Daniel,how much did Giuliani actually pay to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss in Feb 2025 other the the 6 million dollar apt ?
Don't know. He has a sugar daddy and the settlement is confidential.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/rudy-giuliani-judgment-defamation-case-former-georgia-election-workers-rcna193581
How about the Who, What, When, How and Why of any of the lawfully ordained payments to be made ( and not made) to the victims of the above discussions? Justice delayed is justice denied is justice forgotten. Mindboggling.
MOST settlements are either confidentioal or are not reported.
Very true William
The flip side of "The truth will set you free" is "Lies will enslave you".
Power corrupts. Take the Federalist bench. Please.
America is in denial.
Anybody with graduate training in clinical psychology would read Thom's chapter as evidence of narcissistic personality disorder amplified by dementia. Put in lay terms, Trump is off his nut. This is particularly problematic when it comes to leaders of governments because narcissistic psychopaths are incapable of love or trust, much less empathy. Thus, they are out of touch with the governed.
Demented narcissists have no sense of shame or dishonor. Consequently, they have no friends, just henchmen and employees. The song "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places" defines their search for satisfaction in life exclusively through the dominance of others.
It is crystal clear that American Democracy is not capable of dealing with fascist leaders who only wish to rule, not govern. Despite Article 25, which was designed to enable cabinets to replace mentally disabled presidents, Trump's deteriorating mind is not even publicly discussed. Despite trainloads of impulsive and reckless actions like bombing Nigeria, Syria, and Iran or embargoing Cuba and Venezuela - all of which pose no danger to America, the MSM and Congressional Democrats just shrug. Our MSM now routinely edits out incoherent babbling in presidential addresses to hide Trump's dementia rather than to amplify it with a tone of concern.
America's democracy is on its deathbed, and all we do is express sympathy.
All members of the cabinet are codepedents.
As I said yesterday, it's within the realm of possibilities that Congress can act.
As to whether he is a threat to himself or to others, that could be litigated. I've laid this out previously. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R47571
I can’t help feeling apprehensive about future treatment of vote counters, election officials, and poll workers especially in midwestern states.
These positions should be appreciated by the community and be bulwarks against fascism and instead could be routinely turned into positions inviting character destruction, criticism, black listing, derision, and outright slander with more frequency.
What would encourage districts that are skewed toward red or leaning to purple in political numbers, especially in tight national races or even local elections, to allocate funds to protect election workers especially if they are all afraid to stand out or afraid of being targeted or otherwise punished for promoting the liberal side?
It’s not just about voting.
It’s about honestly and integrity. These two factors seem to be eroding faster than I could have ever imagined. It’s not just about not caring or turning away, it’s about fear and self-preservation, especially if you are in the minority in opinion, or race, in religion, etc., etc.
We wuz robbed in 2016 & 2024.
If the 2026 mid-term election takes place as planned, Dictator Donny will never concede any loss. The political party that controls the House or Senate will not be known until well into 2027. Dictator Donny cannot lose either the House or the Senate and continue his chaotic and corrupt rule of the country. What Dictator Donny is doing cannot be mistaken for governing; it is tyrannical rule. We will be forced to watch a level of corruption and shenanigans with a mid-term election taking place as we have never seen before. The Republican Party will have to cheat, and I emphasize cheat, as much as possible to go against what mid-term elections have shown us when a president has this low of poll numbers. Again, it is still at best a 50/50 proposition that there will be a 2026 mid-term election.
We have to understand that Trump needs to shut down 2026 elections. He knows that his hold over Congress cannot survive free and fair elections in the face of his and his administration’s massive unpopularity. Trump knows that even the nefarious chipping away at election integrity that he is currently engaged in could not guarantee him a win in the face of a tidal wave of voter opposition. He needs a shut down.
Just a single, simple sentence included in the DOJ Memorandum for All Federal Prosecutors of December 4, 2025, provides the first concrete evidence that Trump and the DOJ are preparing the justification for shutting down the 2026 elections. The sentence reads: “Particularly dangerous are those acts committed by violent, extremest groups that threaten both citizens’ safety and our country’s ability to self-govern.”
In other words, any concocted story about a threat by Antifa to attack polling places would “threaten citizens’ safety” and “our country’s ability to self-govern.” and would, therefore, justify taking action to shut down the elections.
What worries me is that for 230 years, Americans have self-governed through elections—so reliably, in fact, that the practice is now taken for granted. We cannot even imagine a threat to them taking place, much less having them shut down, and I fear that for that reason, Americans may not recognize this threat and take it seriously.
But make no mistake. In a desperate attempt to stay in power and extend their financial feeding frenzy, our oligarchy has installed a straight out sociopath (malignant narcissist) as the head of the country and the free world, and there are no limits on the extent to which he will go to achieve total control and power.
We have to recognize the threat. I think if Americans really “get it,” their outrage will trigger such an overwhelming response that even Trump will get the message. There is no doubt that when unified, the American people can re-establish their rightful control over this country. Shea Foote @ Substack.com