CNN legal analyst Elie Honig expressed surprise on Wednesday morning when former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani admitted in a new court filing that he made false claims about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers who were falsely accused of committing election fraud by former President Donald Trump and his allies.
In breaking down the filing, Honig said that Giuliani conceded that he made false statements in an attempt to more quickly resolve the defamation lawsuit that Freeman and Moss filed against him.
Essentially, it seems that Giuliani is arguing that he made false statements against Freeman and Moss, but that those false statements are nonetheless protected political speech under the First Amendment.
Honig, however, was skeptical that this would be effective.
IN OTHER NEWS: Fulton County case against ‘egregious’ Trump crimes grows stronger as indictments near: report
“What he seems to be trying to do is limit this question to, ‘Was it constitutionally protected speech?'” he theorized. “You have a lot of range when it comes to First Amendment political speech, but I cannot conceive how you justify attacking innocent civilian poll workers falsely like this.”
Honig went on to argue that this new filing was simply a Hail Mary attempt by the former New York mayor to escape from the lawsuit with minimal damages.
“This is a sort of desperate, last-second gasp to try to limit his liability here,” he said. “It’s really an astonishing concession.”
Watch the video below or at this link.