NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani will appear in a New York City courtroom Thursday to explain to a federal judge why he hasn’t turned over his valuables as part of a $148 million defamation judgment.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ordered the former New York mayor to report to court after lawyers for the two former Georgia election workers awarded the major verdict visited Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week to discover that it had been announced weeks earlier had been cleared.
The judge had set an Oct. 29 deadline for the longtime ally of former and future President Donald Trump to turn over many of his assets to lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.
Assets include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, a jersey signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, dozens of luxury watches and other valuables.
Liman originally scheduled a phone conference about the situation, but he changed it to a hearing in Manhattan federal court that Giuliani was forced to attend after the judge learned about the visit to the former mayor’s apartment.
Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the election workers, wrote in a letter to Liman that the home was already “substantially vacant” when representatives of his clients visited a moving company official to assess the transportation and storage needs of the property where Giuliani will be occupying the property. had been ordered to do. surrender.
He said the group was told that most of the apartment’s contents, including art, sports memorabilia and other valuables, had been moved about four weeks earlier — some of which had been placed in storage on Long Island.
Representatives for Giuliani did not respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday.
They have so far unsuccessfully argued that Giuliani should not be forced to hand over his assets while he appeals the verdict.
Liman also denied a request from Giuliani’s legal team to postpone Thursday’s court appearance until next week or to postpone it by telephone as originally planned.
A spokesman for Giuliani, meanwhile, dismissed the legal wrangling as an intimidation tactic.
“The opposing attorneys, who are either negligent or deliberately acting in a deceptive manner, are simply attempting to further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he becomes destitute and homeless,” Ted Goodman, his spokesman, said earlier this week.
Giuliani was found liable for defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of voter fraud while raising Trump’s baseless allegations of election fraud during the 2020 campaign.
The women said they received death threats after Giuliani accused the two of sneaking in ballots in suitcases, counting the ballots multiple times and tampering with voting machines.
