article

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 15: Rudy Giuliani, the former personal attorney of former US President Donald Trump, speaks to reporters outside the E. Barrett Prettyman US District Court after reaching a verdict in his defamation trial.

NEW YORK, NY – A judge ordered Rudy Giuliani to appear in a New York courtroom to explain why he missed a deadline to hand over his assets – including a Mercedes that appeared to be the same car he was seen in on Tuesday – as part of a $148 million defamation judgment.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued the order late Monday after attorneys for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss — two former Georgia election workers who were given massive sentences — reported to the court that they went the week spent at Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment. to see what goods were there, but that he had been released.

Liman set an Oct. 29 deadline for Giuliani to turn over many of his possessions to representatives of Freeman and Moss, but none of the items have yet been turned over, attorneys for the former campaign workers said Monday. The judge ordered Giuliani and his lawyers to appear in court on Thursday.

These possessions include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, and a variety of other possessions — from his television to a shirt signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, up to 26 luxury watches.

On Tuesday, media reports showed Giuliani in the passenger seat of what appeared to be a 1980 Mercedes with another man behind the wheel at a polling place in Palm Beach, Florida, where Donald Trump cast his ballot . It could not immediately be confirmed if it was the same car he was supposed to surrender.

Aaron Nathan, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, pointed out Giuliani’s Mercedes reports to the judge in a court filing Tuesday.

“It is clear that Mr. Giuliani is in violation of his obligations under the Court’s order of receivership,” Nathan wrote.

Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s security chief, sent a statement to The Associated Press referring to the 1980 Mercedes.

“Mayor Giuliani, an 80-year-old man with a bad knee and lung disease related to 9/11, relies on this vehicle as his primary means of transportation in Florida, where there is no mass transit system like the from New York. “, Ragusa wrote. “The way he’s being pushed into poverty by those targeting him — after all he’s done for this country — is appalling and clearly politically motivated.”

Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, added that Giuliani’s attorneys “have requested documents to transfer title to the vehicle and have not heard back from opposing counsel.”

The judge originally scheduled a telephone status conference for Thursday, but changed it to an in-person hearing and specifically ordered Giuliani to appear in person in response to the report from attorneys for Freeman and Moss.

Goodman said Giuliani made his holdings available to Freeman and Moss. He did not directly answer questions about why assets have not been handed over so far.

“Opposing councilors, acting either negligently or deliberately in a deceptive manner, are simply trying to further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is penniless and homeless,” said Goodman in a statement. “This is just another way they have weaponized our once sacred justice system. They should be watching every American.”

Goodman added that Giuliani has stored “several items” over the past year and “everything else that was removed was related to his two live programs that air every weeknight on his social media platforms.”

Lawyers for Giuliani did not return email messages seeking comment Monday night or Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday afternoon, Liman rejected an earlier request by Giuliani’s lawyer, Kenneth Caruso, to either postpone the in-person hearing until next week or hold it Thursday by phone, as originally planned. Caruso said in a court filing that Giuliani had a “contractual commitment” to do a live radio show Thursday and Friday nights.

“To keep this commitment, he must be in his Palm Beach apartment where he has his broadcast equipment,” Caruso wrote, referring to Giuliani’s Florida property. “We note that broadcasts such as those described above currently provide Mr. Giuliani’s only source of income.”

Liman denied the request, saying in a ruling posted on the court docket that “no good cause has been provided.”

Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and longtime Trump ally, was found guilty of defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of voter fraud during the 2020 election. Giuliani accused them of they slipped ballots into suitcases, counted ballots multiple times, and tampered with voting machines, all while supporting Trump’s baseless allegations of voter fraud.

Freeman and 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 sought to seize many of Giuliani’s assets in the New York lawsuit.

Nathan said in court documents that Giuliani and his lawyers refused to answer basic questions about the location of most of the valuables that are the subject of the court order.

On Thursday, the women’s lawyers were access given to Giuliani’s apartment in New York to assess, with a representative of the moving company, the transportation and storage needs for the property to be turned over.

Nathan wrote that the residence was already “substantially empty” when the group arrived and that they were told most of the apartment’s contents had been moved about four weeks prior.

That, Nathan said, includes the “vast majority” of valuables known to be stored there, including art, sports memorabilia and expensive furniture.

Giuliani’s lawyers have argued — so far unsuccessfully — that Freeman and Moss should not be allowed to obtain and sell his assets while his appeal is pending in a federal court in Washington.