A federal judge on Thursday threatened to hold former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in civil contempt if he failed to hand over his property to two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
The valuables include a $5 million Manhattan condominium, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz once owned by actress Lauren Bacall, a jersey signed by baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and some cash accounts.
The women said that they received death threats and that their reputations were destroyed after Giuliani falsely accused them of ballot fraud during Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman had ordered Giuliani to surrender the property by October 29 to Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. However, when representatives of the women went to the former mayor’s apartment last week, they found that most of its contents, including art and sports memorabilia, had been cleared out four weeks earlier, and that some items had been placed in storage on Long Island.
Liman warned Giuliani in court on Thursday that he expected the women to ask that the former mayor be held in contempt if he continued to refuse to relinquish his possessions.
“He’s not going to be in contempt if he’s made efforts and it’s impossible to comply with the order. But that’s the standard that he’s going to be held to,” Liman said.
Giuliani filed for bankruptcy after the multimillion-dollar judgment, but his case was dismissed when a federal judge found that Giuliani had not provided a clear depiction of his finances. The judge’s dismissal opened the doors for Giuliani’s creditors, including the election workers, to file against him.
Aaron Nathan, a lawyer for the women, said in court Thursday that attempts to take possession of Giuliani’s items have been met with “delay and then evasion” tactics. The lawyer said Giuliani was apparently moving around his assets and had opened new bank accounts.
Giuliani said in court that he had been “treated rudely” by the people trying to take his assets.
Giuliani’s lawyers have unsuccessfully argued that their client should not be required to turn over his possessions while he appeals the judgment.
“Every bit of property that they want is available if they are entitled to it,” Giuliani told reporters Thursday. “Now, the law says they’re not entitled to a lot of them. For example, they want my grandfather’s watch, which is 150 years old. That’s a bit of an heirloom. Usually, you don’t get those unless you’re involved in a political persecution. In fact, having me here today is like a political persecution.”
Giuliani, 80, who once enjoyed widespread popularity, has now been disbarred in New York and Washington.
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