REPORT. HERE'S LESTER HOLT. >> GOOD DAY, EVERYONE. WE'RE COMING ON THE AIR WITH BREAKING NEWS ABOUT FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI. JUST MOMENTS AGO, A JURY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. SAID THE FORMER TRUMP ADVISER MUST PAY $148 MILLION TOTAL IN DAMAGES STEMMING FROM THE DEFAMATION CASE BROUGHT BY TWO FORMER GEORGIA ELECTION WORKERS. RUBY FREEMAN AND SHANE MOSS SAY GIULIANI DAMAGED THEIR REPUTATIONS,MENTAL HEALTH AND THREATENED THEIR SAFETY WHEN HE SPREAD LIES ABOUT THEM IN A BID TO OVER TURN THE 2020 ELECTION. GIULIANI ADMITTED IN THE PAST THAT HE DID MAKE DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS ABOUT THE WOMEN, BUT ARGUED THE WOMEN DID NOT CAUSE THEM THE DISTRESS THEY CLAIMED. NBC LEGAL CORRESPONDENT LAURA JARET JOINS ME. BREAK THIS ALL DOWN FOR US. >> Reporter: GIULIANI FACING THAT MASSIVE JURY VERDICT, JUST COMING IN MOMENTS AGO, AS YOU ANNOUNCED THE TOP LINE NUMBER THERE, $148 MILLION. HE'S BEING ORDERED TO PAY THAT, HAVING ALREADY BEEN FOUND LIABLE ON THE CORE CLAIMS OF DEFAMATION AND EMOTIONAL DISTRESS FOR THESE TWO ELECTION WORKERS DOING THEIR CIVIC DAY IN 2020, COUNTING BALLOTS. GIULIANI FALSELY ACCUSED THEM OF ENGAGING IN VOTER FRAUD, HAVING GONE ON A CONSERVATIVE NETWORK MAKING STATEMENTS. AFTER HE MADE THOSE STATEMENTS, HE ESSENTIALLY UNLEASHED A TORRENT OF VIOLENT AND RACIST RHETORIC AGAINST THEM. TODAY, HE'S BEING ORDERED TO PAY. AGAIN, TOP LINE NUMBER $148 MILLION. THEY BROKE IT DOWN, LESTER, THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT CLAIMS HERE FOR DEFAMATION, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS. WE'LL RUN THROUGH THE NUMBERS THERE. BUT PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN PARTICULAR HERE, $75 MILLION. PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OF COURSE, ORDERED TO SEND A MESSAGE, LESTER. >> I'LL ASK YOU TO STAND BY. LET ME BRING IN DANNY. HOW DO JURIES DECIDE WHAT THE NUMBER IS? >> Reporter: THERE IS NO PRECISE MATHEMATICAL FORMULA. THAT LANGUAGE IS IN THE JURY INSTRUCTIONS FOR DAMAGES FOR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES. THIS IS A CASE WHERE THE DAMAGES COULD HAVE GONE ANYWHERE. THEY COULD HAVE BEEN $200,000 OR $200 MILLION, BECAUSE IT IS REALLY DIFFICULT TO PROVE A DOLLAR AMOUNT OF HARM WHEN IT COMES TO DAMAGE TO REPUTATION. SIMILARLY, PUNITIVE DAMAGES, THERE IS NO FORMULA FOR APPLYING PUNITIVE DAMAGES. ALTHOUGH COURTS IN THE D.C. CIRCUIT HAVE SUGGESTED THAT A SINGLE DIGIT MULTIPLIER, DOUBLE, TRIM, QUADRUPLE. THAT WILL BE UPHELD ON APPEAL. ONCE YOU GET INTO 20 TIMES COMPENSATORY DAMAGES, YOU MIGHT GET OVERTURNED. SO WHILE THIS WAS A COMPLETELY UNPREDICTABLE NUMBER, IT'S LIKELY THAT THESE NUMBERS, AS HUGE AS THEY ARE, WILL SURVIVE APPEAL IF THE DEFENSE TRIES TO APPEAL THEM. >> YOU TALK ABOUT APPEAL. THE FACT IS, THE DEFENSE IN THIS CASE REALLY DIDN'T PUT ON MUCH OF A DEFENSE OTHER THAN SAYING, IT'S TOO MUCH MONEY OR THEY DON'T DESERVE IT. >> IN A SENSE, THEY COULDN'T PUT ON A DEFENSE, ESPECIALLY AS TO LIABILITY. LIABILITY WAS ALREADY DETERMINED. IN FACT, PUNITIVE DAMAGES WERE ALREADY DETERMINED. NOT THE DOLLAR AMOUNT, BUT THE NEED TO IMPOSE THEM, BECAUSE THERE WAS ALREADY FUNDING THAT RUDY GIULIANI ACTED WITH RECKLESS INTENT TO MERIT PUNITIVE DAMAGES. IN OTHER WORDS, DAMAGES INTENDED TO PUNISH, BECAUSE OF HIS RECKLESS AND WORSE CONDUCT AGAINST THE PLAINTIFFS. SO THIS IS EXACTLY THE SITUATION WHERE THERE WASN'T MUCH DEFENSE TO PUT ON IN THE FIRST PLACE, BECAUSE ISSUES OF LIABILITY AND A LOT OF ISSUES RELATED TO DAMAGES WERE ALREADY DETERMINED. AND DETERMINED BECAUSE OF GIULIANI'S OWN FAILURE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCOVERY PROCESS. SO THAT WAS ON THE GIULIANI DEFENSE TEAM FOR FAILING TO PRODUCE DISCOVERY. THE PUNISHMENT HERE WAS THAT THIS TRIAL WAS ONLY EVER ABOUT DAMAGES. AND THE PLAINTIFFS JUST HAD TO PROVE TO THE JURY WHAT A REASONABLE AMOUNT WAS FOR THE HARM TO THEIR REPUTATION AND THEIR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS. >> DANNY, THANKS VERY MUCH. THAT CONCLUDES THIS NBC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT. MORE COVERAGE AHEAD ON OUR STREAMING CHANNEL, NBC NEWS NOW, AND ONLINE AT NBCNEWS.COM. OF COURSE, I'LL BE BACK WITH YOU