On the Sunday edition of her MSNBC show, Katie Phang invited on for a victory lap the lawyer for the two plaintiffs who won a $148 million judgment from Rudy Giuliani in their defamation case against him. The mother-and-daughter plaintiffs had been election workers in Fulton County, Georgia in the 2020 election that Rudy had publicly accused of participating in election fraud in favor of Joe Biden.
In the course of his comments, the lawyer, Von DuBose, managed to maintain a straight face while claiming:
"No amount of money can bring back the sense of security that's been lost in this case by virtue of the things that have been done to them . . . I think they would trade all of this for their prior lives."
Now, it's true, as Rudy's lawyer has admitted, that Giuliani "committed wrongful conduct" against the plaintiffs, and "harmed" them. And the evidence is that their lives were significantly disrupted, and that they received numerous threats against them.
But $148 million would surely go a very long way to repairing the harm. IF....millions of dollars came through from the Giuliani camp.
Let's do this thought experiment. A higher power waving a magic wand appears before the plaintiffs, and makes this offer to them:
"Ladies, just take this pen and sign on the line. Instantly, you will be fully restored to your lives before Rudy came into it. All you have to do is give up your $148 million judgment."
Think they would reach for the Montblanc? Most people would take the money and run. You could gate yourself like Oprah Winfrey.
Von Bose's assertion that his clients would trade away their $148 million judgment to get their former lives back was risible. Even so, I found DuBose more impressive than Ben Crump, who has made a lucrative cottage industry of representing clients including the families of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.
Phang concurred with DeBose's take, telling him, "I appreciate you emphasizing that it's not just the money." Also, as is the liberal media's tradition in such cases, Phang elevated the plaintiffs to royalty status, at one point speaking of "Lady Ruby."
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Katie Phang Show
12/17/23
8:39 am ETVON DUBOSE: I think it's important to note that this is important for them personally, but it's also important for all of those civil service workers out there who are just doing their jobs, going about doing the things that really make this country work and go the way it should. And they deal with this kind of nonsense.
So, this is really an important decision beyond—a lot of folks focus on the money. But for the purpose of informing people who would do this to civil servants, this is a historic, historic verdict.
KATIE PHANG: Yeah, and Von, I appreciate you emphasizing that it's not just the money.
First of all, you have a collections effort that you're going to have to do to be able to get the money from somebody who's clearly, I think, from what we've seen in that discovery process, with them trying not to turn over his finances, him being Giuliani. He's going to make it difficult for you guys to be able to do it.
But I want to emphasize something that Lady Ruby said about how she misses her name. There is a reason why America and others are able to say, easily, Shaye Moss, Ruby Freeman. And sadly, we would not have known who they are, right, other than the fact that they were defamed. That they were elevated on a level by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and others, in such a horrible way.
I mean, is that ultimately the message that was heard and received by the members of that jury in D.C.?
DEBOSE: Yes, I think so. This has been such an ordeal for them, not to have their names. Not to have their freedom to go about their business and do the things that they've always done.
And I think they would trade all of this for their prior lives, to come back to the way they are.
But the jury spoke, they spoke on behalf of voiceless people like Ruby and Shaye. And the hope is that the people who would say things like this about innocent people who were just doing their jobs will think twice. And they'll understand that their lives have a price tag.
