Trump ally and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani On Thursday, tongues were wagging in federal court after missing a deadline to hand over valuables. Two election officials that defameIncluding a vintage Mercedes, one of the assets he drove to vote in Florida. that I owe it to the women.Ruby Freeman and daughter Wandrea Moss pay millions in damages.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman called the request a “joke” after hearing that Giuliani was the only person with knowledge of his assets on the document and wanted his name removed.
“I expect you to answer that question truthfully and completely,” Liman said, adding, “Someone else in the world should have knowledge of Giuliani’s various assets.”
Hearings on the matter were conducted remotely, but Lyman ordered Giuliani to appear in person on Thursday after finding that he had not fulfilled his obligations to the two women. Lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss visited Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week and said it was empty, frustrating efforts to inventory and secure his assets.
“This is the only property here in Manhattan that cannot be moved. Everything else was game play,” said Aaron Nathan, an attorney at Freeman and Moss.
“We kept asking where this stuff was, but the defendant refused to answer,” Nathan said.
Kenneth Caruso, one of Giuliani’s lawyers, argued that some of the items are currently in a storage facility in suburban Ronkonkoma, New York, and that Giuliani has “no control” over them.
Liman warned Caruso to “consider your word” about access to the storage facility, as Giuliani could be subject to a contempt hearing if he fails to hand over the property he is owed.
In December 2023, a jury awarded the two men $148 million in damages for lies spread by Giuliani following the 2020 presidential election. The massive compensation left Giuliani bankrupt and granted a significant portion of what he owned to the defamed women.
When asked by a reporter after Thursday’s hearing if he regretted defaming Freeman and Moss, Giuliani shouted, “No!” He then denied defamation.
Lyman gave Giuliani until October 29 to turn over a long list of possessions, including a Mercedes, 24 luxury watches and a jersey signed by New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, who had long held Giuliani’s $5 million. featured prominently above the fireplace. Apartments are available as well as other furniture and sports memorabilia. The women are also entitled to about $2 million that Giuliani said was owed to President-elect Trump’s 2020 campaign.
In another tense moment, Caruso called Giuliani “vindictive” for having to hand over a watch, an heirloom previously owned by his grandfather. “Oh, come on,” Liman said before raising his voice and pointing out other examples he hears regularly, including “people who run bodegas and cut their employees’ wages.”
“If you have a debt, you have to pay it back. It doesn’t matter if you show it.” Lyman said. He later said Moss and Freeman were willing to allow Giuliani to keep the watch, but never filed paperwork requesting that he do so.
When Giuliani arrived to vote in Florida on Tuesday, he was sitting in the passenger seat of a Mercedes convertible that appeared to be a 1980 classic once owned by actress Lauren Bacall.
Later that day, a spokesperson for the former New York mayor and Trump’s former lawyer, who was fired, appeared to confirm that it was the same vehicle and said they had attempted to hand it over.
In court Thursday, Giuliani’s attorney, Kenneth Caruso, said the half-century-old car could be valued at less than $4,000. He noted that a court order would allow him to keep the vehicle at that price.
Caruso asked Liman to allow Giuliani to attend the hearing remotely, as he has done before. Caruso said Giuliani has signed a deal to do evening radio appearances on Thursdays and Fridays. Caruso said Giuliani uses “broadcast equipment” at his home in Florida.
Liman denied that request. On Thursday, he gave lawyers for the women until Nov. 11 to instruct Giuliani on how to hand over their assets, and Giuliani to follow four days later.
