(WASHINGTON) — The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case in Washington, D.C., has stayed proceedings in the case while the appeals process plays out.
Trump’s lawyers had requested the proceedings be stayed but special counsel Jack Smith’s team opposed an all-out stay, saying they felt certain filings could still move forward to keep the case on track for the March 4 trial date.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the delay does not prevent her from enforcing the protective orders in the case, Trump’s conditions of release, or the limited gag order that prohibits Trump from making statements about potential witnesses or attacking the special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, as well as Chutkan’s staff and the staff of other D.C. district court personnel.
Earlier this week, the special counsel asked the Supreme Court to intervene and resolve the matter to prevent any delays to the scheduled trial date.
The court said it would consider the request on an expedited basis.
Trump in August pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called “fake electors,” using the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations,” trying to enlist the vice president to “alter the election results,” and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged — all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
The former president has denied all wrongdoing and denounced the charges as “a persecution of a political opponent.”
(NEW YORK) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is on trial in Washington, D.C., this week for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Giuliani, acting on behalf of former President Donald Trump, accused the mother and daughter of committing election fraud while the two were counting ballots on Election Day in Georgia’s Fulton County.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the two women, leaving this week’s trial to determine the full scope of the damages and any penalties Giuliani will have to pay. Freeman and Moss are seeking between $15.5 million and $43 million.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 13, 4:52 PM EST
Freeman tearfully testifies she left her home due to threats
Wiping away tears, Ruby Freeman described being forced to leave her house for two months — and ultimately having to move out — because of the threats she received after she was falsely accused of manipulating ballots.
Freeman said she was advised to leave her home by the FBI. She then stayed in different Airbnbs.
“I couldn’t stay at home,” Freeman said. “I was just too scared and my neighbors were having to watch out for me.”
Freeman sobbed as she recounted how she lost the ability to use her name in her new home. She said she is too scared to introduce herself to her neighbors.
“I have a home but I can’t do anything,” Freeman said.
Dec 13, 4:43 PM EST
Freeman calls Trump’s call to Georgia officials ‘mean’ and ‘evil’
Then-President Donald Trump invoked Ruby Freeman’s name more than a dozen times in his infamous phone call to Georgia officials on Jan. 2, 2021, when Trump implored Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to win him the state.
After an audio recording of the call was later made public, Freeman described hearing her name come out of the mouth of the “most powerful person on Earth,” as her attorney characterized Trump.
“Where’s Ruby?” Trump could be heard asking Raffensperger, referring to an expression that was then trending online.
“I just felt like, ‘Really?'” Freeman testified. “The president, talking about me? Me? How mean, how evil.”
“I just was devastated,” she said. “It made me feel like, you don’t care that I’m a real person.”
Dec 13, 4:29 PM EST
Jury shown lynching threats that ‘terrorized’ Freeman
Jurors were shown a smattering of the racially charged threats Ruby Freeman received after video of her and her daughter counting ballots at State Farm Arena on election night circulated online.
The emails flooded her inbox on the night of Dec. 3, 2020, with several invoking lynching and references to the Ku Klux Klan.
One email, from an account called Grand Wizard with the email name “kkk” said, “Safest place for you right now is in prison. Or you will swing from the trees.”
Another suggested the government hang her and her daughter from the “Capitol dome,” saying, “I pray that I will be sitting close enough to hear your necks snap!”
Several of the messages accused her of being a traitor or “SCUM.”
“I received so many on my phone that at one point my phone crashed,” Freeman testified. “I felt horrible. I felt terrorized. I was scared … people are coming to kill me. They have my address, they have my phone number, they know my name.”
Freeman testified that two days later, on Dec. 5, 2020, people began to show up at her house and she was forced to call the authorities.
While on the phone with police, Freeman said people were “banging” on her door.
“Not only am I getting phone calls and emails and stuff, now you’re actually coming to the house,” Freeman testified. “I was scared.”
Dec 13, 4:10 PM EST
Freeman gives judge infamous ginger mint at heart of allegations
When Rudy Giuliani accused Ruby Freeman of “surreptitiously” passing her daughter a USB drive while the two were counting ballots on Election Day at State Farm Arena — a central tenet of his false claims about the two women — what he actually saw, according to Freeman, was something far less sinister: a ginger mint.
As Freeman took the stand, her attorney entered a ginger mint into evidence — and Freeman passed the judge a ginger mint, too.
“I’m going to use this,” Judge Beryl Howell said.
Freeman explained that she always has the candies with her. She passes them out to clients of her clothing boutique and those in need.
“I felt that it was healthy,” she testified.
Freeman, who always went by “Lady Ruby,” said she can no longer use her nickname publicly or in business.
“I can’t use my name anymore, so I’m not Lady Ruby,” she said as her voice cracked. “Sometimes I don’t know who I am.”
Dec 13, 4:02 PM EST
Ruby Freeman takes the stand
Ruby Freeman, the mother of Shaye Moss and her former co-worker in the Fulton County elections office, has taken the witness stand.
Freeman introduced herself to the jury as “Lady Ruby” as questioning got underway.
Giuliani’s unfounded claims about the two women prompted a deluge of threats that ultimately drove Freeman from her suburban Atlanta home, she told ABC News’ Terry Moran in an exclusive interview last year.
Dec 13, 3:03 PM EST
Giuliani lawyer scrutinizes expert’s credibility
Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley scrutinized the credibility of the communications expert whose report on the reach of Giuliani’s defamatory statements underpins the plaintiffs’ request for tens of millions of dollars in damages.
Dr. Ashlee Humphreys, an expert witness for plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, fielded questions about the methodology she used to compile a report on the reputational harm that was done to the mother and daughter. Sibley sought to poke holes in that research as part of an effort to cast doubt on her findings.
“Reputation repair campaigns such as this are common,” Humphreys said in response.
Sibley also highlighted Humphreys’ participation as an expert witness in other cases, including in the defamation lawsuit filed against former President Trump by the writer E. Jean Carroll, and a case involving the conservative media outlet Gateway Pundit.
Noting that her past expert witness work exclusively targeted right-wing figures, Sibley asked, “Is there a reason for that?”
“No,” she replied.
Dec 13, 12:39 PM EST
Fixing plaintiffs’ reputations will cost up to $47M, says expert
Communications expert Dr. Ashlee Humphreys, testifying for the plaintiffs, estimated that the cost to repair the reputations of Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman is between $17.8 million and $47.4 million.
Humphreys said that her assessment found that Giuliani’s defamatory statements about the two election workers had a “significant, negative and long-lasting” impact on Moss and Freeman’s reputations.
“To repair reputational harm is not easy,” Humphreys said.
A repair campaign for Moss and Freeman would include circulating statements in multiple media outlets, hiring influencers, and running media advertisements over a long period, Humphreys testified.
Dec 13, 12:26 PM EST
Plaintiffs’ expert says accusations reached wide audience
Dr. Ashlee Humphreys, an expert in sociology and communications, took the stand for the plaintiffs to testify about the reach of Giuliani’s false election fraud claims online and on social media.
Humphreys said that prior to December 3, 2020, “there was practically no search traffic” for Ruby Freeman. After that day, Humphreys said there was a “dramatic increase over a period of months.”
Humphreys said some of the search terms between December 2020 and January 2021 were “Ruby Freeman arrested,” “Ruby Freeman fraud” and “Ruby Freeman FBI.”
During her testimony, Humphreys walked through her analysis of the total number of times content had been displayed to uses, known as “impressions.” Her impression analysis of several videos and posts by Giuliani and former President Trump included a Dec. 23, 2020, podcast in which Giuliani mentioned Moss and Freeman, which Humphreys said received between 584,855 to 807,751 impressions.
An advertising post by the Trump campaign that falsely claimed Freeman and Moss stuffed ballots in suitcases received between 8 million and 18.2 impressions, Humphreys said.
Some of the statements Humphreys said she found in her research were from Giuliani’s “strategic communications plan” to challenge the election results, which included references to Moss and Freeman.
Dec 13, 10:58 AM EST
Judge asks Giuliani to explain latest remarks
Lawyers for Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman said they may rest their case today.
The attorneys expect Freeman to take the stand this afternoon following Dr. Ashlee Humphreys, an expert who will testify about the reach of Rudy Giuliani’s statements and the reputational impact of those statements on Freeman and Moss.
Before the jury was seated, Giuliani was asked by Judge Beryl Howell to explain remarks he made after court and online Tuesday night, after she admonished him earlier Tuesday about comments he made on Monday.
“I did,” Giuliani said about making Tuesday’s remarks, “but I don’t think they violated the order. If I did, it was accidental.”
“I will not do it in the future,” he said.
In a video streamed Tuesday night on X, formerly Twitter, Giuliani said, “They’re seeking $40 million. Oh yeah. They’re seeking $40 million for the damage that I allegedly did to them. One of them did testify that she has no money, they do have an endless number of lawyers in the courtroom, however, for people that don’t have any money.”
Dec 13, 9:05 AM EST
Plaintiffs to call expert on reputation repair
Day 3 of the trial is scheduled to begin with a witness deposition video, finishing up the series of deposition videos that was played in court yesterday.
Plaintiffs’ attorney are then expected to call an expert witness to the stand to testify about the impact of Giuliani’s statements.
The testimony is expected to address the estimated cost to repair the damage done to Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman’s reputations.
Dec 12, 5:51 PM EST
Giuliani refrains from commenting on case
After court was adjourned for the day, Rudy Giuliani told reporters outside court that he would not comment on the case after the judge slammed the remarks he made after court Monday.
“I’m not going to discuss the case anymore because it seemed to get the judge annoyed,” he told reporters.
Court will resume Wednesday morning.
Dec 12, 5:08 PM EST
Court adjourns for the day
Following Shaye Moss’ testimony and the playing of several video depositions, Day 2 of the trial adjourned for the day.
When court resumes on Wednesday, Michael Gottlieb, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, said he plans to show one final deposition video of poll observer Pamela Michelle Branton.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys also plan to call an expert witness to testify about the impacts of Giuliani’s false accusations, according to court papers filed in the case.
Dec 12, 4:55 PM EST
Attorneys play video depositions from Giuliani aides
Attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss played excerpts from previously recorded video depositions with Trump associate Bernie Kerik and attorneys Christina Bobb, and Jenna Ellis in part to demonstrate Giuliani’s leading role in efforts to uncover evidence of systemic election fraud.
They never found it.
Kerik, the former police commissioner in New York City, described a document in the team’s legal playbook, which included a section about Freeman. Bobb, a onetime attorney for then-President Trump, described the makeup of Giuliani’s legal team.
In the recording of Ellis, a former Trump attorney, she repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as attorneys for the two women peppered her with questions about her work with Giuliani in the aftermath of the election.
Dec 12, 4:20 PM EST
Shaye Moss concludes testimony
Shaye Moss concluded her testimony after several hours on the witness stand.
Excerpts from a taped video deposition with Giuliani associate Bernie Kerik, the former police commissioner of New York City, is next on the docket.
Kerik worked with Giuliani to try overturn the results of the 2020 election. He received a pardon from then-President Trump earlier that year on felony fraud charges dating to 2009.
Dec 12, 4:01 PM EST
Moss describes ‘homework’ from therapist
Shaye Moss grew so fearful for her life after threats poured in that she stopped going out in public, and only recently, she testified, did she build up the courage to leave her home alone, without security.
She did so at the behest of her therapist.
“That was actually her homework for me,” Moss said of her therapist’s request that she visit a public place by herself.
“I did once,” Moss said.
She testified that she drove alone to a local restaurant, where she found a quiet seat located at the end of the bar.
“I was so terrified. I felt extremely nauseous,” she said. “I was very proud of myself. But unfortunately I have not been able to do that again.”
Dec 12, 3:38 PM EST
Moss breaks into tears under cross-examination
Shaye Moss broke into tears under a line of questioning from defense attorney Joseph Sibley about the adverse health effects she attributes to Giuliani’s defamatory statements about her.
Sibley asked Moss to repeat the names of two mental health diagnoses she received from therapists since the 2020 election. When Moss intimated that she had additional ailments that could be tied to Giuliani’s conduct, Sibley asked, “What other issues do you have?”
Moss’ attorney objected to the question. As the judge consulted privately with counsel from both parties, Moss held her hands to her face and could be seen wiping tears from her cheeks.
Shortly before this exchange, Moss said her mental anguish had been exacerbated by her inability to work. She described conversations with her therapist about taking time to heal before jumping back into a job.
“Before, I had purpose, at least,” Moss said. Now, she said, “most days I pray God won’t wake me up and I disappear.”
Dec 12, 3:16 PM EST
Moss says spread of election lies akin to Olympic torch relay
Under cross-examination by Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley, Shaye Moss was asked how she could be sure that it was his client’s remarks that inspired throngs of strangers to level racist and vile threats against her and her family.
Moss said those strangers “were parroting his exact words.”
She testified that right-wing news outlet Gateway Pundit and the Trump campaign used language similar to Giuliani’s in smearing her.
“It was like the torch for the Olympics,” she said. “They pass it from person to person to person.”
Dec 12, 2:57 PM EST
‘I want to receive some type of justice,’ Moss testifies
Shaye Moss returned to the witness stand after the midday break to be questioned by Giuliani attorney Joseph Sibley, who asked her about her efforts to rehabilitate her reputation — probing what steps she has taken to mend her name online.
Moss said she had pays a service $140 per year to monitor her name online and protect her identity, but that “it’s incredibly difficult” to repair her reputation “when powerful people keep spewing lies about us.”
“How could you work in law if people were saying, like, that you were a horrible lawyer?” Moss asked Sibley.
“You’d be surprised,” Sibley quipped.
Asked how much money she believes she is owed for Giuliani’s lies, Moss said, “I’m relying on the experts.”
“I want to vindicate myself,” she said. “I want to receive some type of justice.”
Dec 12, 12:59 PM EST
Moss says she felt like ‘worst mom’ for exposing son to racist threats
It wasn’t just Moss and Freeman who bore the brunt of Giuliani’s false fraud accusations, Shaye Moss testified. Her grandmother and son also suffered after the former mayor falsely accused Moss and Freeman by name.
“I feel like it’s my fault. Maybe if I was satisfied being in the mail room … then maybe it would not have happened,” Moss said regarding her promotion to election worker.
Moss said her 16-year-old son struggled in school after being exposed to racist threats against their family — and went from a comic-obsessed “bookworm” to flunking the ninth grade.
“Racism is real. And it comes out,” Moss recalled telling him. “I felt like the worst mom ever to allow him to have to hear this, to experience this day after day after day.”
Moss also said she harbors guilt for the treatment of her grandmother. Strangers would repeatedly send pizzas to her house under fake, racist names, Moss testified. The delivery person would expect payment upon arrival, she said.
“My grandmother has lived through all this racist crap. I mean, we’re from Georgia … miles and miles of cotton fields as we drive to the beach,” Moss said. “It’s history, but we have to go through this.”
Dec 12, 12:48 PM EST
Ordeal left her with ‘major depressive disorder,’ says Moss
In emotional testimony, Shaye Moss described how, following the 2020 election, her mental health spiraled out of control over the course of 2021 — a period during which she said her life fell into a rhythm of “Cry, eat, sleep. Cry, eat, sleep.”
“I’m like a hermit crab now. Obviously, I look totally different,” she said. “I’ve gained 70 pounds. I realize I stress-eat.”
“I don’t trust anyone,” she added.
After seeking therapy, she told her therapist about her nightmares — that a mob would arrive at her house “with nooses, with pitchforks and signs,” and that her son would find her hanging.
“The look of shock on [the therapist’s] face, the look of disbelief — it kind of scared me,” she said. “I felt bad for releasing all that on the therapist.”
Moss says she was diagnosed with “acute stress disorder.” Months later, she met with a different therapist who made a more serious diagnosis: “major depressive disorder with acute distress,” Moss said.
Dec 12, 12:17 PM EST
Job prospects deteriorated after accusations, Moss testifies
One interlude from the aftermath of the 2020 election demonstrates how Moss’ career prospects deteriorated, she testified.
Moss said she felt so disillusioned with election work by mid-2021 that she sought work elsewhere. She applied for a job at a Chick-fil-A restaurant and secured an interview.
“I was dressed up. I had my notebook with my resume. I was excited, I was ready,” Moss said.
The interview “went great,” she said, even though she realized that, without relevant experience, she would be asked to do menial tasks.
“I had made up my mind that, oh well, I’ll have to start at the bottom,” she testified. “And if I can work my way up at [voter] registration, I can work my way up here.”
Before leaving, however, the interviewer showed her an article on his laptop and said, “Tell me about this. Is this you? Is this true?”
The article featured an image of her face with the word “Fraud” plastered across it.
“The more he was talking, the more I just tuned it out,” Moss said. “I was so shocked, I was so embarrassed … I just had to leave. I just left.”
Dec 12, 11:58 AM EST
Moss, through tears, describes life after Giuliani’s accusations
Shaye Moss felt dejected and fearful after Rudy Giuliani’s defamatory statements and accusations about her proliferated online — prompting the veteran election worker to change her appearance and leave her job.
John Langford, an attorney for Moss, displayed emails and messages she received on social media in late 2020, as her name circulated online in right-wing media. One read, “Be glad it’s 2020 and not 1920.”
The chilling message, which she said made her “afraid for my life,” prompted her to assume a new physical identity.
“I went into my hair salon and I asked my stylist to make it so the same person she saw walk in here is not the person who leaves,” Moss recalled.
Her stylist, she said, “dyed it a strawberry blond color.” A selfie Moss took the following day showed her with a “puffy face from crying all night.”
Though her hair changed, Moss said she returned to work after “the worst Christmas” of her life, determined to return to normalcy.
“My goal was still to make sure that everything was ready for our next election, that everything ran smoothly,” she testified.
Instead, she recalled, “Things ain’t never returned to normal.”
Moss left the Fulton County elections office in April 2022 after she was passed over for a promotion.
“It felt like a slap in the face,” she said, because she sensed that her superiors thought it would look bad for the county.
“I wanted to retire a county worker, like my grandma — make her proud, make my mom proud — but…” she said, trailing off in tears.
Rudy Giuliani, seated at the defense table, showed little emotion as Moss wept on the witness stand. Leaning with his elbow on the table, the former mayor took intermittent notes as she testified.
Dec 12, 11:30 AM EST
Moss says seeing election fraud claims made her ‘immediately fearful’
A visibly upset Shaye Moss described what happened on Dec. 4, 2020 — the day her boss informed her about the deluge of “nasty, hateful, violent” messages directed at her from online users accusing her of election fraud.
Moss said when her supervisor summoned her to his office, she thought she might be in line for a promotion. Colleagues smiled and gave her a thumbs up as she waded through their cubicles, she recalled.
Instead, Moss testified, she was shown social media posts accusing her of manipulating ballots.
“I am shown these videos, these lies, everything that’s been going on that I had no clue about,” Moss recalled. “I was confused, I was immediately fearful.”
After returning to her desk, Moss said she “couldn’t concentrate” for the rest of the day.
Dec 12, 11:20 AM EST
Shaye Moss describes election job as ‘winning the golden ticket’
Taking the witness stand, Shaye Moss described the pride she felt as an election supervisor in Fulton County — the position she held on Election Day in 2020.
Moss began her career in elections in 2012 as a temporary worker in the Fulton County elections office mail room. Five years later, she said she secured a promotion to permanent work.
“I worked really hard for that position. I was so excited I literally dropped to my knees and cried,” Moss said. “It was like winning the golden ticket with Willy Wonka. I was so proud of myself.”
Moss said she felt proud to work in elections and took particular delight in helping the elderly and others who found it difficult to cast their ballots. She said her grandmother inspired her to pursue a career in elections.
“No, I did not like my job — because I loved my job,” Moss recalled. “It would make my grandmother proud … my grandmother enjoyed telling her friends … that her grandbaby runs the election.”
Dec 12, 10:32 AM EST
Georgia investigators dispel election fraud claims
Two state investigators who examined allegations that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss conspired to manipulate ballots on Election Day explained in video depositions how those claims were probed and found to be untrue.
Frank Braun and Frances Watson, both investigators with the Georgia Secretary of State at the time, explained that Freeman, Moss and their colleagues returned to State Farm Arena late on Nov. 3, 2020, after the secretary extended hours for counting ballots, to help expedite the process — not, as Rudy Giuliani and others suggested, to rig votes.
“There was no evidence that suggested they did anything wrong, except show up to work and work hard,” Braun said in his video deposition.
Watson, the chief investigator at the time, said that Giuliani’s remarks about manipulated ballots at State Farm Arena were “not accurate.”
Dec 12, 9:51 AM EST
Judge blasts Giuliani for ‘additional defamatory’ remarks
Judge Beryl Howell admonished Rudy Giuliani for making “additional defamatory comments” about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss late Monday when he told ABC News’ Terry Moran that he stands by his false statements about the two women.
Giuliani told Moran as he departed the courthouse Monday that “everything I said about them is true” and that the women “were engaged in changing votes.”
Those comments “could support another defamation claim,” Howell told Giuliani’s attorney, Joseph Sibley, as court resumed Tuesday morning. “How do you reconcile those comments?”
When Howell asked if Giuliani denied making those comments, Giuliani rose his voice and said, “Of course I did.”
The trial has “taken a toll on him,” Sibley said. “He’s 80 years old … I can’t control everything he does.”
Howell then questioned Giuliani’s age, capacity and acuity — and whether that might be an issue in the case. “Can he follow instructions?” she asked.
“The answer, of course, is yes,” Sibley replied, adding again that “sitting through a multi-day trial” has been hard for Giuliani.
The judge appeared visibly frustrated while chastising Giuliani and his attorney over his remarks. Giuliani, reclining in his chair at the defendant’s table, shook his head at times.
Dec 12, 9:19 AM EST
Moss expected to testify this morning
Shaye Moss is expected to take the witness stand this morning on the second day of her defamation damages trial against Rudy Giuliani.
At the trial’s first day yesterday, an attorney for Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, described how Moss “started to have nightmares” as hundreds of strangers flooded her phone and social media with threats of violence and racist remarks — including “nightmares of her son finding her hanging from a tree alongside her mom.”
Moss “will explain the humiliation she felt” trying to apply for another job at a Chick-fil-A restaurant, the attorney added, where her interviewer found an article about scrutiny of Moss after the election and asked her, “Is this you?”
A day after Giuliani was slammed by plaintiffs’ attorneys for remarks he made to the press following yesterday’s proceedings, the former mayor ignored questions from reporters as he made his way into the courtroom this morning.
Dec 11, 11:03 PM EST
In filing, plaintiffs’ attorneys slam Giuliani’s remarks to press
In a filing late Monday, attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are accusing Rudy Giuliani and his attorney of crafting arguments at trial that run afoul of the court’s prior ruling that Giuliani’s defamatory statements about the mother and daughter were false.
The filing cites ABC News’ reporting on correspondent Terry Moran’s exchange with Giuliani as the former mayor departed court, during which Giuliani said that he “told the truth” about Freeman and Moss “changing votes,” and that he should not be held accountable for the conduct of “other people overreacting.”
“According to public news reports, upon leaving the courthouse, Defendant Giuliani stopped to say to an assembled group of the press: ‘When I testify, the whole story will be definitively clear that what I said was true, and that, whatever happened to them — which is unfortunate about other people overreacting — everything I said about them is true,'” the filing says, quoting ABC News’ report.
“Needless to say,” attorneys for Freeman and Moss write, “were Defendant Giuliani to testify in a manner remotely resembling those comments, he would be in plain violation of the Court’s prior orders in this case conclusively affirming, and reaffirming, that all elements of liability have been established, including that Defendant Giuliani’s defamatory statements were false.”
Judge Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the plaintiffs, leaving the current trial to determine the amount of damages and any penalties Giuliani will have to pay. In their late Monday filing, the plaintiffs’ attorneys urged Howell to “instruct counsel for Defendant Giuliani that he has violated and is prohibited from further violating the Court’s orders by making arguments contrary to its prior evidentiary rulings.”
Dec 11, 6:31 PM EST
Giuliani insists Freeman, Moss were ‘changing votes’
Departing court after the first day of the trial, Rudy Giuliani told ABC News’ Terry Moran that he has no regrets about his treatment of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss — and he doubled down on his core allegations about them.
“When I testify, the whole story will be definitively clear that what I said was true, and that, whatever happened to them — which is unfortunate about other people overreacting — everything I said about them is true,” Giuliani told reporters.
“Do you regret what you did to Ruby and Shaye?” Moran asked.
“Of course I don’t regret it,” Giuliani said. “I told the truth. They were engaged in changing votes.”
“There’s no proof of that,” Moran responded.
“You’re damn right there is,” Giuliani retorted. “Stay tuned.”
Court will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET.
Dec 11, 4:51 PM EST
Expert describes racist content ‘on a level we don’t see’
Plaintiffs’ first witness in the case is a social media monitor who testified about the deluge of “racist and graphic material” targeting Freeman and Moss that appeared online after Giuliani began accusing them by name.
Regina Scott, a retired Chicago Police Department official who now works as a security and risk analyst, testified that negative mentions about Freeman and Moss surfaced online at a prodigious rate.
A report Scott prepared identified more than 710,000 mentions of Freeman and Moss between November 2020 and May 2023, and 320,000 mentions between Aug. 18, 2023, and Nov. 11, 2023.
“The type of violent and racist and graphic material, that’s on a level we don’t see at all in our work,” Scott said.
-ABC News’ Laura Romero
Dec 11, 3:49 PM EST
Damages sought are ‘civil equivalent of death penalty,’ says attorney
Joseph Sibley, an attorney for Rudy Giuliani, implored jurors to withhold judgment of his client and consider a “fair and proportionate” monetary penalty when the trial concludes, framing the $43 million sought by Freeman and Moss as a “truly incredible” figure.
“What the plaintiffs’ counsel are asking for in this case is the civil equivalent of a death penalty,” Sibley told jurors in brief opening remarks.
Sibley, in making his case to the jury, ceding before arguments even began that Giuliani made defamatory comments about Freeman and Moss — but he refuted the notion that his comments led to the abuse that followed.
“There’s really no question that these plaintiffs were harmed,” Sibley said. “They’re good people, they didn’t deserve what happened to them.”
But Sibley urged jurors to consider only “what can actually be attributed to Mr. Giuliani.”
“He never promoted violence against these women, never made racist statements about them,” Sibley said of Giuliani. “That was other random people.”
Dec 11, 3:38 PM EST
Damage to plaintiffs should cost Giuliani ’10s of millions’
Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss suffered a “perpetual nightmare,” their attorney Michael Gottlieb told the jury during his opening remarks, saying that the damage they suffered warrants an “award in the tens of millions of dollars.”
Gottlieb told jurors his clients suffered three types of damages — reputation, emotional and punitive — due to Giuliani’s “defamation campaign.”
In addition to the costs to “repair their reputation,” Gottlieb told jurors that Freeman and Moss’ award should account for lost wages, forced relocation, security expenses, and more.
-ABC News’ Laura Romero
Dec 11, 3:00 PM EST
Giuliani used accusers as ‘cornerstone’ of conspiracy, says lawyer
Rudy Giuliani sought to use Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss “as a cornerstone” of his campaign to denigrate the 2020 presidential election, prompting his followers to turn their ire toward the two election workers, their attorney, Von DuBose, told the jury in his opening remarks.
DuBose described how Giuliani slandered Freeman and Moss to his “massive national audience” and accused the mother and daughter of rigging ballots in President Joe Biden’s favor.
“None of that — none of that — is true. But the millions of people who heard the lies didn’t wait for confirmation,” DuBose said. “And the response from those Giuliani called to action was swift. It was racist.”
Dubose played audio recordings of several voicemails left on Freeman and Moss’ phones after Giuliani targeted them by name, including threats of violence and racist name-calling.
Many of the voicemails cited the USB drive Giuliani falsely told Georgia state legislators that the two were “surreptitiously passing around … as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine.”
Then, DuBose said, “Words turned into action.”
“Strange people” showed up at Freeman and Moss’ home looking for them, DuBose said, with some attempting to “make citizens’ arrests.”
“This case is about how Giuliani … made their names a call to action for millions of people who did not want to believe” the results of the 2020 election, DuBose said.
Dec 11, 2:42 PM EST
Jury instructed on Giuliani’s defamatory comments
Judge Beryl Howell, following a break, delivered a lengthy statement to jurors about details of the case — including her determination that Rudy Giuliani has already been found liable for his defamatory comments.
Howell emphasized that the panel must assume that Giuliani failed to cooperate with his discovery requirements in the case in an effort to “artificially deflate” his net worth, and that jurors must understand that Giuliani benefitted financially from his defamatory comments about Freeman and Moss.
“Your job, ladies and gentlemen, is to determine the facts,” Howell said.
Howell reminded jurors that their sole responsibility is to determine the damages associated with Giuliani’s comments.
As Howell ticked through jury instructions, Giuliani intermittently shook his head and exchanged glances with his attorney.
Dec 11, 11:11 AM EST
Judge asks juror prospects about MAGA, QAnon slogans
Prospective jurors are commonly asked to divulge any affiliations with parties in the case, or preconceived views about them. But in this case — a heavily politicized matter involving election lies — Judge Howell’s questioning has veered into some of the cryptic slogans of the far-right movement.
Howell is asking prospective jurors whether they had ever used the expression “Let’s Go Brandon” — a common refrain among President Joe Biden’s detractors — or the hashtag “WWG1WGA,” a motto associated with the QAnon movement.
She is also asking jurors whether they follow Giuliani’s social media channels.
The prospective jurors reflect the unique makeup of nation’s capitol. Among those who have been questioned: a Defense Department official, a U.S. Forest Service official, a Defense Intelligence Agency official, and a woman who had worked for the Girl Scouts.
Dec 11, 10:40 AM EST
Giuliani faces Freeman, Moss for 1st time
When Rudy Giuliani entered the courtroom some 20 minutes late due to delays with the courthouse security line, it was the first time he shared a room with Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
Freeman and Moss kept their backs turned away from Giuliani as he entered the courtroom. Moss appeared to swivel her chair slightly to avoid facing him directly.
Giuliani took a seat at the defendant’s table alongside his attorney, Joseph Sibley.
While waiting for Giuliani, Sibley had asked Judge Howell’s permission for Giuliani to bypass the security line moving forward. She said she would discuss it with court personnel, but laid the blame at Giuliani’s feet for his arriving “tardily.”
Dec 11, 10:11 AM EST
Judge welcomes prospective jurors to courtroom
Judge Howell has begun reading instructions to dozens of prospective jurors, after proceedings were delayed slightly due to Giuliani’s late arrival and some apparent issues with juror paperwork.
Howell rose and swore in jurors before the selection process got underway. She emphasized that she would endeavor to seat an impartial and unbiased jury.
“The court has already determined that Mr. Giuliani is liable for defamation, and that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss are entitled to receive compensation, including in the form of punitive damages, for Mr. Giuliani’s willful conduct,” Howell told jurors.
“The only issue remaining in this trial is for the jury to determine any amount of damages Mr. Giuliani owes to plaintiffs for the damage caused by his conduct,” Howell said.
Dec 11, 9:53 AM EST
Ruling could be another blow to Giuliani’s finances
The $15.5 million to $43 million that Freeman and Moss are seeking from Giuliani reflects the emotional distress and monetary losses associated with the former mayor’s defamatory comments, according to attorneys for the mother and daughter.
If the plaintiffs receive anywhere near those figures, it would mark the latest financial blow to a man who once raked in tens of millions of dollars through security consulting and speaking fees.
Judge Beryl Howell has already ordered Giuliani to pay Freeman and Moss upwards of $230,000 as a sanction for failing to comply with the discovery process of sharing information relevant to the case. In court filings over the summer, Giuliani’s lawyer asked the judge if Giuliani could defer payment, citing the former mayor’s “financial difficulties” as a result of fighting a slew of litigation elsewhere.
Giuliani stands to owe millions more if he loses cases brought by two voting machine companies and his own longtime personal attorney, among other legal challenges he faces. Giuliani has denied all claims.
Dec 11, 8:24 AM EST
Jury selection begins this morning
Jury selection in the case gets underway at the D.C. federal courthouse this morning, where eight Washington residents will be chosen to serve.
Jurors will be tasked with attaching a monetary value to the harm caused by the defamatory statements a judge found Rudy Giuliani liable for making in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
When the parties arrive in court this morning, it will be the first time Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss face Giuliani in person.
Patti Smith has been released from an Italian hospital, where she was taken after suddenly falling ill on Tuesday, December 12. She was supposed to headline a show in Bologna that night, but it was canceled.
The Italian outlet TGcom24 reports the 76-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was released from Maggiore Hospital after a day of observation, but has been advised to rest. Because of that, she’s been forced to cancel her remaining commitments in Italy, including a concert Thursday, December 14, in Venice. The shows in Bologna and Venice were the final two dates of Patti’s eight-show tour of Italy.
She was also supposed to attend a book signing in Milan on Friday, December 15, but that too has been canceled.
Patti has three U.S. dates coming up: December 26 in Chicago, and December 29 and 30 in Brooklyn, New York.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 13, 3:57 PM EST
Deadliest year ever for Palestinians in West Bank: UN
There have been 271 Palestinians, including 69 children, killed in the West Bank by Israeli Security Forces since Oct. 7, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. It’s been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began recording casualties, the agency said.
Dec 13, 3:13 PM EST
US hopes Kerem Shalom border crossing will open for transit soon
The U.S. hopes that the Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border, which opened for inspections of humanitarian aid on Tuesday, will open for transit soon, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.
“We hope that Kerem Shalom will be open for transit soon. It’s my understanding that that’s a matter that’s before the Israeli government today — there may be a vote on it today,” Miller said. “We hope it will be approved and that Kerem Shalom will be opened not just for inspections, but for cargo to move in through Kerem Shalom, which would alleviate some of the traffic situation that has existed at [the] Rafah [crossing between Gaza and Egypt] and would help get more aid into the people who need it,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Dec 13, 3:12 PM EST
Netanyahu and Sullivan to meet Thursday
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Thursday with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who is arriving in Israel on Thursday.
Sullivan will talk to the Israelis about another cease-fire, getting more hostages released and opportunities to expand humanitarian aid, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“Jake will also discuss the next phase of the military campaign and efforts to be more surgical and more precise and to reduce harm to civilians,” Kirby said.
He said these will be “extremely serious conversations” with the hope they will be “constructive.”
Dec 13, 2:43 PM EST
Biden was ‘moved’ from meeting with families of American hostages
President Joe Biden was “moved” by the stories from the families of American hostages during their meeting on Wednesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“The president was very grateful for the time that they afforded him. And he was moved by their stories, by the love they feel, by the hope that they still harbor,” Kirby said.
“These are difficult days for these families. But as we all prepare for the holiday season that’s already upon us, we would do well to remember that for them, there’s going to be an empty chair at the table,” Kirby said.
“There’s going to be irrepressible ache and worry and fear,” he said. “So we should all keep them in our thoughts.”
Biden promised the families “that we’re going to keep them informed every single step of the way,” Kirby added.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Dec 13, 2:20 PM EST
Israeli hostage killed in captivity
Israeli hostage Tal Chaimi, a 41-year-old man and member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, was killed in captivity, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Wednesday.
Chaimi is survived by his wife and three children: 9-year-old twins and a 6-year-old son, the forum said.
Dec 13, 1:36 PM EST
American hostages families: There’s ‘no better friend’ than Biden
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, speaking on behalf of the family members of the eight Americans believed to be held hostage by Hamas, told reporters, “We could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration.”
He said the families left their “terrific” meeting with Biden on Wednesday feeling the administration was “completely committed” to securing the release of their loved ones.
When asked for updates on their loved ones, the families declined to get into the specifics of the conversation.
But, Dekel-Chen said, “Today’s meeting with President Biden and Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken only reinforced that … they are willing and ready to do all that they possibly can, by any number of means, to get the hostages home.”
Liz Naftali, the great aunt of Abigail, the 4-year-old Israeli-American hostage released last month, said, “Abigail is a miracle.”
Naftali praised Biden and Blinken for their empathy.
“What the president and Secretary Blinken understand is that they’re just not numbers and they’re just not faces,” she said. “They are sons. They are grandparents. They are mothers.”
“We are thankful to the president and to his team, because we know that they are working 24 hours a day and they are going to work through the holidays,” she said. “They are going to do everything they can to make sure that all of our loved ones … come home.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Fritz Farrow
Dec 13, 11:39 AM EST
No more children’s vaccines available in Gaza: Gaza Ministry of Health
Children’s vaccines have run out completely in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
This “will cause catastrophic health repercussions on children’s health and the spread of diseases, especially among the displaced in overcrowded shelter centers,” Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra warned.
Dec 13, 11:23 AM EST
Biden meets with families of American hostages
President Joe Biden met privately Wednesday with families of Americans taken hostage by Hamas, according to the White House.
Participants included: Yael Alexander, Adi Alexander, Ruby Chen, Roy Chen, Ronen Neutra, Orna Neutra, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Gillian Kaye, Aviva Siegel, Elan Siegel, Shir Siegel, Hanna Siegel and Liz Naftali.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jon Finer, White House deputy national security adviser, also participated in the meeting.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, whose 23-year-old son, Hersh, was taken hostage, and Iris Haggai, whose parents were believe to be kidnapped, joined the meeting by phone.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 13, 11:13 AM EST
US issues 4th round of sanctions against Hamas officials
The U.S. has announced another round of sanctions against Hamas officials, including key operatives in Turkey who allegedly worked to transfer money into Gaza to fuel Hamas operations.
These sanctions, imposed in coordination with the United Kingdom, are the fourth round imposed by the U.S. since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
The sanctions reflect the administration’s “commitment to dismantling networks that support Hamas funding streams as part of our continuous effort to prevent and deter its terrorist activity,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a statement.
ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Dec 13, 10:13 AM EST
Nearly 200 aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday
There were 197 humanitarian aid trucks that crossed through the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, entering Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
Eighty of those trucks were inspected at the Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border, which opened for the first time on Tuesday to expand the amount of aid entering Gaza.
Dec 13, 7:19 AM EST
US urges Israel to be as ‘deliberate as possible’ in Gaza strikes
U.S. officials are continuing to urge the Israeli military to be “as careful and deliberate as possible” as it strikes targets within Gaza, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.
“We want to make sure they get as precise targets as possible to limit civilian casualties,” Kirby told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Wednesday.
He added that the U.S. will continue to support Israel, including making sure “they have the weapons to go after Hamas wherever they are inside Gaza.”
Dec 13, 6:27 AM EST
IDF commander among 10 killed overnight, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces reported the deaths of 10 service members overnight, including a high-ranking officer, making Tuesday one of the deadliest days for the country’s military since the ground invasion began in Gaza.
Nine troops died in a single incident, an ambush in northern Gaza, officials said, marking the deadliest incident over the past month for the IDF.
At least 115 service members have been killed since Israel’s ground invasion began. A total of 444 have been killed since Oct. 7, officials said.
Dec 12, 7:31 PM EST
Biden says he doesn’t know if there are hostages in Gaza tunnels
President Joe Biden said he does not know for a fact if there are any hostages in the tunnels under Gaza amid reports that Israel began flooding some of them to target Hamas.
“There [are] assertions being made that they’re quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels, but I don’t know that for a fact,” Biden told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday. “I do know that, though, that every civilian death is a national tragedy.”
Asked if he has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about how long he believes the operation in Gaza should last, Biden declined to give a timeline.
“I want to make sure that we don’t forget what we’re doing here. We have to support Israel because they’re an independent nation,” he said, adding that the “brutality” of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel is “beyond comparison.”
Dec 12, 4:35 PM EST
Israel pumping seawater into some Gaza tunnels
Israel has recently started to pump seawater into Hamas’ underground network of tunnels, two U.S. officials confirmed to ABC News. It seems the flooding has been limited as Israel evaluates the effectiveness of this strategy compared to its other techniques.
The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli Defense Forces has not publicly commented.
ABC News previously reported that Israel was exploring a range of options to take out Hamas’ tunnels, including flooding them with seawater — an approach some worried could have devastating long-term environmental impacts and other ramifications for Gaza’s civilian population.
In 2015, Egypt used seawater to flood a section of tunnels in the southern stretch of the enclave to disrupt smuggling activity, which led to complaints about damaged homes and crops, as well as contaminated water supplies.
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon Crawford and Justin Gomez
Dec 12, 3:44 PM EST
Biden says Netanyahu needs to ‘strengthen’ and ‘change’ the Israeli government
President Joe Biden said at a campaign reception that Israel is starting to lose support and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to “strengthen” and “change” the government to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“This is the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said, adding that the government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”
“You cannot say there’s no Palestinian state at all in the future. And that’s going to be the hard part,” he said.
“Bibi’s got a tough decision to make,” Biden said, referring to Netanyahu.
Biden added, “In the meantime, we’re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel in the process.”
The president also recounted a recent conversation with Netanyahu, saying, “It was pointed out to me — I’m being very blunt with you all — it was pointed out to me that — by Bibi — that. ‘Well, you carpet-bombed Germany. You dropped the atom bomb. A lot of civilians died.'”
“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s why all these institutions were set up after World War II to see to it that it didn’t happen again — it didn’t happen again,” Biden said. “Don’t make the same mistakes we made at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to be in a war in Afghanistan at 9/11. There was no reason why we had to do some of the things we did.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Mary Bruce and Justin Gomez
Dec 12, 1:34 PM EST
IDF recovers bodies of 2 more hostages
The Israel Defense Forces said it has recovered the bodies of two more hostages: 28-year-old Eden Zecharya, who was taken hostage from the Supernova music festival, and 36-year-old soldier Ziv Dado.
The IDF said its special forces recovered their bodies in Gaza and brought them back to Israel.
Dado was a husband and father of a 5-month-old girl.
“Ziv loved helping others, especially underserved populations,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said. “During his military service, he received certificates of excellence, was beloved by his commanders and superiors.”
Zecharya’s boyfriend died in the Oct. 7 attack while she was injured and kidnapped.
Zecharya “was filled with joy for life” and planned to study digital marketing, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said.
She was devoted to her two dogs, and “in her last phone call, she managed to ask her father to look after her dogs,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said.
Dec 12, 1:16 PM EST
8-year-old girl in Gaza: ‘Save us’
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens by the day, ABC News spoke with several children in Gaza whose lives have been upended.
“We started building tents with our own hands,” said Neda, an 8-year-old girl. “People became literally crazy. Whenever we found anything good or not, we would wear it.”
“Oh world, save us from this war,” Neda said. “We are young people, children who want to live like the rest of the children in the world.”
She wondered, “They wanted to remove Hamas, but what is our fault?”
Rama, a 9-year-old girl, said her “house was shaking” from “all the missiles.”
She asked, “If they bomb all the hospitals, where will we be treated?”
At a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden said Israel is starting to lose support and that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has to strengthen and change” the government to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Bibi’s got a tough decision to make,” Biden said, referring to Netanyahu, according to a pool report.
“This is the most conservative government in Israel’s history,” Biden said, adding that the government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 12, 11:59 AM EST
IDF recovers bodies of 2 more hostages
The Israel Defense Forces said it has recovered the bodies of two more hostages: 27-year-old Eden Zakaria, who was taken hostage from the Supernova music festival, and 36-year-old soldier Ziv Dado.
The IDF said its special forces recovered their bodies in Gaza and brought them back to Israel.
Dec 12, 11:27 AM EST
Biden to meet with family members of American hostages
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden will hold a meeting at the White House with family members of Americans taken hostage by Hamas, according to a White House official.
This appears to be the first in-person meeting between Biden and relatives of hostages. The president held a Zoom call with the families on Oct. 13.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 12, 10:41 AM EST
Kerem Shalom crossing at Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opens
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border opened on Tuesday to expand the amount of aid into Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
The first batch of humanitarian aid trucks underwent inspection at Kerem Shalom Tuesday morning and is now en route to the Gaza-Egypt Rafah border crossing, COGAT said.
The simultaneous security checks at the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Israel-Egypt Nitzana crossing will double the volume of aid delivered through Rafah and admitted into the Gaza Strip, COGAT said Monday.
Dec 12, 8:20 AM EST
Twenty killed in airstrikes on Rafah in southern Gaza, health ministry says
At least 20 people were killed in airstrikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The city has been designated a safe zone by the Israeli military for displaced civilians in war-torn Gaza.
Dec 12, 6:03 AM EST
IDF says 20 soldiers killed by accident in Gaza since start of war, most by friendly fire
Twenty Israeli soldiers have been killed by accident in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, most by friendly fire, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
The IDF confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that a total of 105 soldiers have died since ground operations were launched in Gaza, 20 of which were considered accidents. Of those 20 accidental deaths, 13 were due to friendly fire, one was caused by firing irregularities and six were accidents involving weaponry, machinery or trampling, according to the IDF.
Dec 12, 5:19 AM EST
Biden says commitment to Israel is ‘unshakable,’ but warns ‘the whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight’
U.S. President Joe Biden hosted a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday evening, reaffirming his country’s support for Israel as the war in the Gaza Strip continues.
“My commitment to the safety of Jewish people, and the security of Israel and its right to exist, is independent — as an independent Jewish state is unshakable,” Biden said.
But the president cautioned that Israel has to “be careful” because “the whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight.”
“We can’t let that happen,” he said.
Biden also highlighted efforts his administration is taking to secure the release of hostages still being held by militants in Gaza and the continuation of military support for Israel “until they get rid of Hamas.”
“We’ve gotten more than 100 hostages out and we’re not going to stop till we get everyone on the home,” he added.
He also touted U.S. efforts to “lead the world in humanitarian assistance to innocent Palestinian civilians” in Gaza.
Dec 11, 5:17 PM EST
Physician shot inside Gaza Hospital: Doctors Without Borders
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières said one of its surgeons inside the Al-Awda hospital was injured by a shot fired from outside the facility.
“Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for [the] safety of patients and staff inside. Let us be clear: Al Awda is a functioning hospital with medical staff and many patients in vulnerable condition. Targeting medical workers as they care for their patients is utterly reprehensible, utterly inhumane,” Renzo Fricke, MSF’s head of mission, said in a statement.
The international humanitarian group said the attacks on the hospital have killed five staff so far including two of their members.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 11, 4:28 PM EST
Israel targeting 2 hospitals in northern Gaza: Palestinian Health Ministry
Israeli forces are targeting and operating near two hospitals in northern Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital and the Al-Awda Hospital, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The director of Al-Awda Hospital, Ahmed Muhanna, said Israeli tanks were surrounding the hospital.
Doctors Without Borders said one of its surgeons was injured inside Al-Awda Hospital by a shot fired from outside the facility.
“Reports coming out of Al-Awda hospital are harrowing and we are gravely worried for safety of patients and staff inside,” Doctors Without Borders said.
The Israel Defense Forces said it could not comment on troops’ locations.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Cindy Smith
Dec 11, 4:15 PM EST
Israel doesn’t intend to stay permanently in Gaza: Defense minister
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday that Israel “will take any measures in order to destroy Hamas, but we have no intention to stay permanently in the Gaza Strip.”
“We only take care of our security and the security of our citizens alongside the border with Gaza and elsewhere,” Gallant said.
Gallant said “a new civil body will be established to try and look after the welfare of the residents.”
“The key condition is that this body will not act with hostility towards the state of Israel,” Gallant said. “All the rest, in my opinion, can be discussed. It certainly will not be Hamas, and also will not be Israel. We will maintain our freedom to act, to operate militarily against any threat.”
Speaking directly to Hamas, Gallant said, “To the terrorists, to their commanders and to the battalion commanders: surrender. If you surrender, you can save your lives. If not, your fate is sealed.”
Dec 11, 3:09 PM EST
‘Cruelty I hadn’t seen before’: Psychiatrist who treated hostages
Dr. Renana Eitan, a psychiatrist who treated people held by Hamas, said some of the now-released hostages experienced “cruelty that I haven’t seen before.”
“I’ve been a psychiatrist for over 20 years,” she said. “We are [a] national center for sexual trauma and for PTSD for the refugees from Africa, so I thought I saw all the worst PTSD patients.”
Some hostages were held “in inhumane sanitary conditions” and “subject to severe physical, sexual and mental abuse,” Eitan said.
“I have never seen anything like that before,” Eitan said.
“One of the patients, she was kept in total darkness for four days. This is inhumane. She became psychotic. She had hallucinations,” Eitan said. “I’ve never seen such things in my life.”
According to the Israel Defense Forces, 137 people are still being held hostage by Hamas.
Dec 11, 2:58 PM EST
Kerem Shalom crossing at Israel-Gaza-Egypt border to open Tuesday
The Kerem Shalom crossing at the Israel-Gaza-Egypt border will open on Tuesday for security checks on aid shipments from Egypt, according to COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians.
The simultaneous security checks at the Kerem Shalom crossing and the Israel-Egypt Nitzana crossing will double the volume of aid delivered through the Gaza-Egypt Rafah crossing and admitted into the Gaza Strip, COGAT said.
Dec 11, 2:21 PM EST
Protesters calling for cease-fire chain themselves to White House fence
A group of 18 protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza chained themselves to the White House fence on Monday.
The protesters were from Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that defines itself as “Jews organizing toward Palestinian liberation.” They chanted, “Biden, Biden pick a side, cease-fire not genocide,” and, “Cease-fire cannot wait, no Hanukkah to celebrate.”
U.S. Park Police said its officers used bolt cutters to remove the chains from the fencing and cleared the group from the area after roughly 30 minutes.
The demonstration came hours before President Joe Biden holds a Hanukkah reception at the White House.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Dec 11, 1:58 PM EST
134 UNRWA workers killed since beginning of the war, UN says
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said 134 of its workers have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began two months ago.
Although northern Gaza was the first region intensely targeted by Israeli forces, the UNRWA said half of its killed staffers died in middle and southern Gaza.
There are 1.9 million people now displaced in Gaza, where conditions are continuing to deteriorate, the UNRWA said.
Dec 11, 12:21 PM EST
IDF says it recovered explosives, rifles in UNRWA-labeled bags in Gaza home
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers found explosives, AK-47 rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade hidden inside UNRWA-labeled bags in a home in Gaza.
The IDF said it also found long-distance rockets inside a truck near a school in Gaza.
The Israeli army has “directed aerial strikes on dozens of terrorists in the Gaza Strip” over the last day, the IDF said, and “in one incident, armed terrorists spotted exiting a medical clinic during operational activity were struck by the IDF.”
Dec 11, 6:43 AM EST
104 Israeli troops killed since fighting began, IDF says
At least 104 Israeli service members have been killed since the country’s war with Hamas began on Oct. 7, Israel Defense Forces officials said Monday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Dec 10, 5:29 PM EST
Global health organizations call for immediate cease-fire over dire conditions in Gaza
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the World Health Organization released updates on a deteriorating situation in Gaza, imploring for an immediate cease-fire to allow aid to enter and civilians to take shelter.
The MSF is seeing a “complete collapse” in the healthcare system in Gaza, the organization said. It has been 10 days since MSF was forced to stop providing support to Martyrs and Beni Suheila clinics due to the Israeli forces’ evacuation orders for the area, according to the statement.
In Rafah, on the southernmost area of the Gaza Strip and where people from Khan Younis and central Gaza have been pushed to, health services are extremely limited, according to MSF.
“The United Nations Security Council must demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, to lift the siege and ensure unrestricted aid to the entire Gaza Strip,” the MSF statement read.
Meanwhile, according to the WHO, a mission it conducted with partners to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1500 people, and to transfer 19 critical patients, was successful.
The high-risk delivery was managed despite active shelling and artillery fire in the region, according to a statement from the organization.
The hospital itself has been substantially damaged, and in acute need of oxygen and essential medical supplies, water, food and fuel as well as medical personal, the WHO said.
“We cannot wait any longer for a sustained ceasefire and a safe, scaled-up humanitarian response,” WHO officials said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretzky
Dec 10, 4:49 PM EST
IDF claims it has struck 3,500 targets in Gaza since end of cease-fire
Since the end of the cease-fire on Dec. 1, the Israeli Air Force has struck 3,500 targets in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces confirmed to ABC News on Sunday.
Many of the targets hit by the IAF were identified by IDF forces on the ground, IDF officials said in a statement.
Since beginning of the war, more than 22,000 “terror targets” have been struck in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
Among the targets hit by the Israeli forces are ones in Jabalya, Shejaiya, Beit Hanoun and Khan Yunis, the IDF said. Troops are also conducting raids on Hamas terrorist strongholds across the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
Numerous terrorists have been killed in the raids and terrorist infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the IDF.
Additionally, IDF naval troops are operating off the coast of the Gaza Strip, striking terror targets from the sea and supporting IDF ground troops, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 09, 3:14 PM EST
Biden administration approves emergency tank ammunition sale to Israel
The Biden administration approved the possible sale of tank ammunition to Israel through an emergency order, circumventing Congress.
In a release, the State Department notified Congress about the emergency sale on Friday.
“The Secretary of State determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and services in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended,” the release states.
The sale — of 120mm tank cartridges and related equipment — is estimated to cost $106.5 million.
U2 has shared a new take on their latest single, “Atomic City.” The band just released a remix of the tune from producer Mike WiLL Made-It, who is best known for his work with artists like Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and Beyoncé.
U2 dropped “Atomic City” back in September just before they launched their Las Vegas residency, U2: UV Live at Sphere. The video was shot on Vegas’ Fremont Street, the same location where they shot the video for “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” back in 1987. The clip includes drummer Larry Mullen Jr., who has been sitting out of the residency as he recovers from surgery.
In other U2 news, the band is releasing a new coffee table book, U2: UV Sphere, described as “the definitive visual record of what happens in Vegas … when U2 are playing Sphere.” It is available for preorder now and will ship in January.
U2’s next Sphere show is happening Wednesday, December 13. A complete list of dates can be found at U2.com.
(AMHERST, Va.) — Two people have been arrested after a Virginia elementary school student brought gummy bears to school in a container that tested positive for fentanyl, sparking a medical emergency, authorities said.
The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office said seven children at Central Elementary School in Amherst “experienced a reaction to ingesting gummy bears” while at school on Tuesday. Five students were transported to area hospitals for treatment, officials said.
The bag the candy came in had a residue that tested positive for fentanyl, Amherst County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Dallas Hill said during a press briefing Wednesday.
The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office had previously said the gummy bears tested positive for the drug. However, during Wednesday’s press briefing, Hill said the candy itself did not test positive for fentanyl but is being sent out for further testing.
The bag was brought from home by a student, according to the Amherst County Public Schools superintendent’s office.
“At this point we believe the bag containing the fentanyl got contaminated either at home or en route to school as the student was being transported by their caregiver to school,” Amherst County Public Schools Superintendent William Wells said during the press briefing on Wednesday. “There’s no indication of any other fentanyl at the school.”
A man and a woman have since been taken into custody in connection with the incident, Hill said.
Clifford Dugan was charged with contributing to the delinquency/abuse of a minor and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and is being held without bond, Hill said.
Nicole Sanders was charged with drug possession and contributing to delinquency/abuse of a minor and was being held on $2,500 bond, Hill said.
Additional charges are possible, Hill said.
Dugan and Sanders were scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon. It is unclear if they have an attorney.
Authorities did not disclose the relationship between the suspects and the student who brought the candy to school.
The sickened students — all of whom had consumed the gummy bears — exhibited symptoms including nausea, vomiting and signs of being lethargic, according to Bradley Beam, the public safety director for Amherst County Public Schools.
The overdose reversal drug Narcan was not administered because none of the students exhibited any signs that they had trouble breathing, Beam told reporters.
School administrators said they immediately notified emergency services of the incident. EMS transported two students for medical attention, and three students were driven by their parents, the sheriff’s office said.
All students were released from the hospital Tuesday and are healthy, Wells said. They are in the same fourth grade class, he said.
School officials initially said they believed the students had an allergic reaction. But through “trial and error,” authorities tested the residue in the bag for fentanyl to do their “due diligence” in determining what happened, Hill said.
Wells said the incident appears to be unintentional and that the student who brought the candy also consumed some of the gummy bears. The student’s sibling also brought a bag of gummy bears from home to the school, which did not test positive for fentanyl, he said.
Wells said the fentanyl was contained to the bag and there was no indication that the drug was on other surfaces in the building. The school was cleaned Wednesday morning.
He said they ask that students not bring in food to share, but said at lunch that is hard to monitor. If students do bring in any food to share, they ask that it come in the original store-bought container.
“This is not a school issue, this is a community issue,” he said. “We have these things in our community. The fentanyl didn’t just show up at school. The fentanyl came from somebody’s house. And so we need to wake up as a county and as a community and realize that these things are happening.”
The Amherst County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the incident.
(WASHINGTON) — The families of people being held hostage by Hamas terrorists praised what they called their “terrific” meeting on Wednesday with President Joe Biden.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, speaking on behalf of the family members of the eight Americans believed to be held hostage in Gaza, said, “We could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration,” as he recounted their meeting at the White House.
The families said they left the meeting feeling the Biden administration was “completely committed” to securing the release of their loved ones.
“We’ve seen that the U.S. administration from the previous round of negotiations and hostage release, the U.S. administration is completely committed to getting the hostages out, the eight Americans who remain there and the other nearly 130,” Dekel-Chen said. “We have no doubt about that.”
Dekel-Chen added that the meeting with Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken “only reinforced that and that they are willing and ready to do all that they possibly can, by any number of means, to get the hostages home.”
While the families declined to get into the specifics of the conversation when asked about updates on their loved ones, they said that the administration has been in frequent and transparent communication with members of the families since Hamas terrorists took the hostages during the Oct. 7 attack.
Liz Naftali, the great aunt of Abigail, the Israeli American toddler released last month after her parents were reportedly killed in front of her by Hamas terrorists, said the families were appreciative of the work Biden and his administration have done.
“What I can tell you is that Abigail is a miracle. She is a light in this very dark time and metaphorically. … We are here because the president and his team have been bringing out light in this dark time,” Naftali said.
“We are thankful to the president and to his team because we know that they are working 24 hours a day and they are going to work through the holidays, and they are going to do everything they can to make sure that all of our loved ones, real people, come home to us and to the families across the world and in Israel,” Naftali said.
Biden has publicly expressed his commitment to repatriating the hostages, saying Monday at a White House Hanukkah celebration, “I’m not going to stop until we get every one of them home.”
Naftali also said the administration has demonstrated empathy towards the hostages.
“That is what the president and Secretary Blinken understand — is that they’re just not numbers and they’re just not faces. They are sons. They are sons. They are grandparents. They are mothers. And that is what the president and his team understand,” Naftali said.
Biden was “moved” by the U.S. hostages’ families’ stories during his meeting with them at the White House on Wednesday, White House spokesperson John Kirby said Wednesday afternoon.
“I would only add that the president was very grateful for the time that they afforded him, and he was moved by their stories, by the love they feel, by the hope that they still harbor, and he harbors that hope too, but as [White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre] rightly noted, he’s acting on that,” Kirby said. “The other thing that he made sure to do was to promise them that we’re going to keep them informed every single step of the way. And we’ll do that.”
Dozens of the more than 240 hostages have been released as part of a cease-fire and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas in the wake of Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 terror attack. Of those, 135 still remain as hostages, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
While the White House and families of hostages have advocated for pauses in the fighting to allow for aid and hostages to move within particular regions of the conflict, Israel has been more reluctant to do so, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arguing that breaks in the fighting allow Hamas time to regroup. The U.S. has agreed that a broad cease-fire would benefit Hamas and instead called for localized and limited pauses.
On Wednesdays we learn more about the upcoming Mean Girls movie-musical.
Tina Fey and the cast of the new film chat about the original 2004 hit and how it inspired this updated take in a featurette released Wednesday, December 13.
“Over the years, I’ve realized that these characters and this story have had a much longer shelf life than anyone anticipated,” Fey says. “For this new movie, how can we surprise and delight people who are already familiar with the story?”
Fey, who wrote, produced and reprises her role as Ms. Norbury in the film, says they strove to do just that with updates that bring the story to the present day.
“It felt like we could have the best of both worlds with great music, new jokes and the look to be updated but also nod to the original,” Fey said.
The featurette also shows off the movie’s musical moments. Several choreography-heavy scenes are featured in a montage, as well as line from the song, “Meet the Plastics,” sung by this adaptation’s Regina George, Reneé Rapp.
“I don’t care who you are/ I don’t care how you feel,” Rapp sings.
The featurette also shows off examples of the film’s updated jokes. Bebe Wood delivers Gretchen Wieners’ most iconic line, this time with a meta twist. “That is so fetch!” she enthusiastically tells Angourie Rice’s Cady Heron.
“What is fetch?” Rapp’s Regina immediately questions, to which Wood’s Gretchen answers: “It’s, like, slang from an old movie.”
It may be hard to believe, but we’re 20 years out from the original film, although Rapp says the story is fresh as ever.
“Twenty years later, it’s just as poppin’ as it was when it came out,” Rapp said.
Mean Girls arrives in theaters everywhere on January 12.
(WASHINGTON) — Americans’ prescription drug records are being shared with law enforcement agencies in some cases without the customer’s knowledge and without a judge first signing off on a warrant, according to three U.S. lawmakers.
The finding has Democrats worried that the policies by major retail pharmacy chains — which are allowed under federal rules — could help prosecutors in states that have banned or restricted abortion go after residents who help women travel to get abortions.
In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the lawmakers said they want the federal government to tighten the rules so pharmacies only release medical records to investigators with a judge’s approval.
“Through briefings with the major pharmacies, we learned that each year law enforcement agencies secretly obtain the prescription records of thousands of Americans without a warrant,” they wrote. “In many cases, pharmacies are handing over sensitive medical records without review by a legal professional. Although pharmacies are legally permitted to tell their customers about government demands for their data, most don’t.”
The letter, first reported by The Washington Post, followed a lengthy congressional investigation by Democrats into medical privacy following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overrule Roe vs. Wade. It was signed by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, and Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Sara Jacobs of California.
The pharmacies mentioned in the letter say they are following privacy laws and federal health rules, which don’t require a judge-signed warrant. In many cases, law enforcement present subpoenas signed by a government agency but not reviewed by a judge.
CVS Health, which is among the pharmacies named in the letter, said it has suggested a warrant or judge-issued subpoena requirement be considered by regulators. And, the company notes, it relies on a legal team to ensure all requests are compliant with the law.
“Most investigative requests from regulatory agencies and law enforcement require us by law to keep the request confidential,” CVS wrote in a statement provided to ABC News. “If a request does not have a confidentiality directive, we consider on a case-by-case basis whether it’s appropriate to notify the individual who is the subject of the request.”
According to the letter to Becerra, pharmacies are dealing with tens of thousands of requests a year, mostly tied to civil litigation, not criminal cases.
The issue is likely to take on increased urgency for Democrats as states remain divided on abortion access and some counties pursue laws against what they call “abortion trafficking,” or helping a woman travel out of state for an abortion.
Under new federal rules, mifepristone can be prescribed virtually to patients up to 10 weeks of gestation and picked up at a local pharmacy so long as the pharmacy follows certain rules. While the patient must be located in a state where abortion is legal to obtain the drug, pharmacy access has enabled overwhelmed abortion providers in states like California, Colorado and Illinois to serve more patients via virtual clinics.
Meanwhile, anti-abortion rights groups have sued to try to remove mifepristone from the market. The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take up the case, likely ruling on by next summer.
Among the concerns by lawmakers and privacy experts is that big pharmacy chains have access to a person’s medical records across multiple states and could be pulled by prosecutors seeking to clamp down on people who help women travel.
Wyden and the other lawmakers say the Biden administration should require under health privacy law — the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA — that a warrant be presented before sensitive information is shared by a pharmacy. They also want pharmacies to alert customers when that happens, unless a judge agrees that would hinder an investigation.
Pentatonix is performing December 13 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, but if you didn’t get tickets to that show, you’ll be able to watch it from the comfort of your living room next week.
The show, part of the group’s Most Wonderful Tour of the Year holiday trek, will stream exclusively on Veeps beginning December 22. Veeps All Access subscribers can access the show for free, or you can buy a ticket for $17.99. It’ll be available to rewatch for 14 days.
The Most Wonderful Tour of the Year officially wraps up December 21 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas. It’s in support of the a cappella group’s latest album, The Greatest Christmas Hits, which features their current single, “Please Santa Please.”
Pentatonix also makes a cameo appearance in the Prime Video holiday movieCandy Cane Lane, which is streaming now.
