Judge holds Rudy Giuliani in contempt in Georgia election worker defamation case
A federal judge in New York found Rudy Giuliani in civil contempt Monday by ruling the former campaign lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump hadn't answered questions from two Georgia election workers about how he was going to pay them $148 million for defamation.
The case marked a significant setback for Giuliani in the same federal district where he served as U.S. attorney.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman had ordered the former New York City mayor to turn over valuables to the women such as a Mercedes Benz once owned by Lauren Bacall, a Manhattan apartment and an autographed Joe DiMaggio baseball jersey.
But lawyers for the election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea’ “Shaye” Moss, said he hasn’t provided “a single dollar” from his cash accounts to settle the judgment. Giuliani turned over the car without the ownership title, the apartment still has Giuliani’s ex-wife on ownership papers and the jersey was never turned over, according to court records.
"He willfully refused to search for and produce documents that would have been responsive to the plaintiffs' request for production," said Aaron Nathan, a lawyer for the women.
The election workers argued that Giuliani refused to turn over his assets despite being found liable for defamation more than a year ago and warnings from the judge.
“It is hard to square Mr. Giuliani’s position with reality,” Nathan wrote in one filing. “The Court has repeatedly warned Mr. Giuliani in clear and unambiguous terms that ‘continued violation of the Turnover Order may result in contempt sanctions.’”
Giuliani, 80, has claimed his life was upended by the lawsuit but that he has not "willfully disobeyed" any court orders.
"There's been substantial compliance," Giuliani's lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, told Liman Monday. "There is no defiance to the court."
But Liman found Giuliani in contempt.
"The fact that he is a busy person who in the past relied on others is not an excuse for noncompliance," Liman said.
Ted Goodman, a Giuliani spokesperson, criticized the opposing lawyers for fighting for the former prosecutor's most cherished possessions, including the signed baseball jersey and grandfather’s pocket watch.
“It’s tragic to watch as our justice system has been turned into a total mockery, where we have charades instead of actual hearings and trials,” Goodman said.
Giuliani turned over documents for his New York apartment at 45 W. 66th St. But his ex-wife's name remains listed on the cooperative's shares and he hasn't taken any steps to remove her so that ownership could be transferred, according to the election workers' lawyers.
Giuliani claimed to have lost track of the DiMaggio jersey, despite one of his former lawyers telling the court in November that it was in a storage facility on Long Island. But one of Giuliani's friends, Monsignor Alan Placa, testified in a deposition that he had seen the framed shirt at Giuliani's Palm Beach condo within the last two years.
Giuliani delivered 18 luxury watches to the women but didn't include eight other watches listed in a bankruptcy declaration dismissed in July. The missing watch brands included Shinola, Corium, Invicta and Breitling, according to court records.
The defamation case is just one piece of litigation facing Giuliani after he aggressively challenged 2020 election results for Trump with baseless claims of widespread fraud. Giuliani faces criminal charges of election interference in Arizona and Georgia. He has been disbarred in New York and Washington.
Freeman and Moss sued him for defamation over his false accusations they were stuffing ballot boxes while counting votes in Atlanta's State Farm Arena. In the initial lawsuit, Guiliani has claimed they were "passing around USB ports as if they're vials of heroin or cocaine." Freeman and Moss testified at a U.S. House hearing that they were passing ginger mints.
Giuliani faces another contempt hearing Jan. 10 in federal court in Washington, D.C., over the defamation case because of allegations he has continued to make additional claims against Freeman and Moss.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is weighing whether to hold Giuliani in contempt for claims on his nightly podcast. Giuliani claimed recently that Freeman and Moss "never let me show the tapes that show them quadruple counting the the the ballots,” according to court records.
(This article has been updated to include new information.)