A judge has ordered Mayor Giuliani to appear in a New York courtroom on Thursday to explain why he missed a deadline to surrender his belongings as part of a $148 million defamation judgment.
A federal district court judge, Lewis Liman, issued the order late Monday after lawyers for two former Georgia election staffers — Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who were awarded the huge judgement — reported to the court that they went to Mr. Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week to see what assets were there, but that it had been cleared out.
Judge Liman had set an October 29 deadline for Mr. Giuliani to surrender many of his possessions to representatives for Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss, but none of the items has been turned over yet, lawyers for the former election staffers said Monday.
Those possessions include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, and a variety of other belongings — from his television to a shirt signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio to 26 luxury watches.
On Tuesday, press reports showed Mr. Giuliani in the passenger seat of what appeared to be a 1980 Mercedes, with another man driving, at a polling place at Palm Beach, Florida, where President Trump cast his ballot as he tried to reclaim the presidency.
It could not be immediately confirmed if it was the same car he was supposed to turn over. A representative for Mr. Giuliani did not immediately return a text message requesting comment.
The judge originally scheduled a status conference by phone for Thursday, but changed it to an in-person hearing and specifically ordered Mr. Giuliani to appear in person in response to the report by Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss’ attorneys.
A spokesman for Mr. Giuliani, Ted Goodman, said earlier Tuesday that the former mayor has made his possessions available to Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss. He did not directly answer questions about why no assets have been turned over so far.
“Opposing counsel, acting either negligently or deliberately in a deceptive manner, are simply attempting to further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is rendered penniless and homeless,” Mr. Goodman said in a statement. “This is just another way that they’ve weaponized our once-sacred justice system. It should concern each and every American.”
Mr. Goodman added that Mr. Giuliani has put “a few items” in storage over the past year and “anything else removed was related to his two livestream programs that stream each and every weeknight across his social media platforms.”
Lawyers for Mr. Giuliani did not return email messages seeking comment Monday night or Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Liman rejected a request made earlier in the day by Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, Kenneth Caruso, to either postpone the in-person hearing to next week or hold it by phone Thursday as originally planned.
Mr. Caruso said in a court filing that Mr. Giuliani had a “contractual commitment” to perform a live radio broadcast on Thursday and Friday evenings.
“In order to keep this commitment, he needs to be in his condo in Palm Beach, where he has his broadcasting equipment,” Mr. Caruso wrote, referring to Mr. Giuliani’s property in Florida. “We note that broadcasts, such as those described above, currently provide Mr. Giuliani’s only source of earned income.”
Judge Liman turned down the request, saying in a ruling posted on the court case docket that “no good cause has been provided.”
Mr. Giuliani, a longtime ally of Trump, was found liable for defamation for falsely accusing Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss of ballot fraud during the 2020 election.
Mr. Giuliani accused them of sneaking in ballots in suitcases, counting ballots multiple times and tampering with voting machines, as he pushed Trump’s election fraud allegations.
Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss said the lies led to death threats against them that made them fear for their lives. A jury awarded them $148 million last year, and they have been seeking to take possession of many of Mr. Giuliani’s assets in the court case in New York.
An attorney for the former election staffers, Aaron Nathan, said in court documents that Mr. Giuliani and his lawyers have refused to answer basic questions about the location of most of the valuables subject to the court order.
“That silence is especially outrageous given the revelation that Defendant apparently took affirmative steps to move his property out of the New York Apartment in recent weeks, while a restraining notice was in effect and while a turnover motion was pending with respect to that property,” Mr. Nathan wrote.
On Thursday, lawyers for the women were given access to Mr. Giuliani’s New York apartment in order to assess, along with a moving company representative, the transportation and storage needs for the property meant to be turned over.
Mr. Nathan, in his letter, said the residence was already “substantially empty” when the group arrived and that they were told most of the contents of the apartment had been moved out about four weeks prior.
“Save for some rugs, a dining room table, some stray pieces of small furniture and inexpensive wall art, and a handful of smaller items like dishes and stereo equipment, the Apartment has been emptied of all of its contents,” he wrote.
That, Mr. Nathan said, includes the “vast majority” of the valuables known to be stored there, including art, sports memorabilia and expensive furniture.
He said Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers have since said some of the property has been moved to a storage facility at Ronkonkoma, roughly 50 miles east of Manhattan on Long Island.
Mr. Nathan said its not clear what property is stored there as the former mayor’s attorneys have not provided an inventory.
Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers have argued — so far unsuccessfully — that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss should not be allowed to obtain and sell his belongings while his appeal is pending in a federal court at Washington.
Associated Press
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