Judge finds Giuliani in contempt for failed responses over $148M defamation judgment
NEW YORK– A federal judge in New York City said Monday that Rudy Giuliani was in contempt of court for failing to properly respond to requests for information as he turned over assets to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment awarded to two Georgia election officials.
Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled after hearing Giuliani testify for a second day at a contempt hearing called after attorneys for the election workers said the former New York mayor had not properly complied with requests for evidence in recent months.
On Friday, Giuliani testified for about three hours in Liman’s courtroom in Manhattan, but the judge allowed him to complete his testimony remotely on Monday from his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida.
At the start of Monday’s hearing, Giuliani had a background with an American flag, which he said he uses for a program he runs over the Internet, but the judge told him to change it to a regular background.
Giuliani admitted during Monday’s testimony that he sometimes did not hand over everything requested because he believed the requests were too broad, inappropriate or even a “trap” set by attorneys for the plaintiffs.
He also said he sometimes had difficulty reporting information about his assets because of the numerous criminal and civil lawsuits in which he had to provide factual information.
Giuliani, 80, said requirements to turn in materials made it “impossible to function in an official manner” about 30% to 40% of the time.
The election workers’ lawyers say Giuliani has shown a “consistent pattern of deliberate defiance” of Liman’s October order to give up assets after he was found liable in 2023 for defaming their clients by to falsely accuse them of ballot tampering during the 2020 presidential election.
That’s what they said in court he’s turned around a Mercedes-Benz and his apartment in New York not the necessary paperwork to realize the assets. And they said he had failed to return his watches sports memorabiliaincluding a Joe DiMaggio jersey, and has not transferred “a single dollar from his non-exempt cash accounts.”
Giuliani said Monday that he is investigating what happened to the DiMaggio shirt and that he currently does not know where it is or who has it.
Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the election workers, asked the judge to draw conclusions about what Giuliani had not turned over — such as the list of his doctors for the past four years — that would make it more likely that the court would conclude that the Palm Beach property was not Giuliani’s primary residence and is therefore not protected from seizure.
Joseph Cammarata, Giuliani’s lawyer, said drawing such a conclusion would amount to a civil “death penalty” and would result in Giuliani losing the Florida property even before a trial in mid-January, when the judge is expected to testify to hear and review evidence before deciding on the placement of the condominium and World Series rings.
Giuliani has insisted that the Palm Beach estate is now his personal home and should be protected from the judgment.
His lawyers predict that he will ultimately win custody of the items on appeal.