Rudy Giuliani Found in Contempt of Court

Giuliani enters a Manhattan courthouse on November 7, 2024. Photo: Cristina Matuozzi/Sipa USA/AP Images

Rudy Giuliani’s legal morass has, incredibly, gotten even worse. On Monday the former New York mayor was found in contempt of court for failing to turn over assets to two Georgia election workers he defamed. Manhattan federal judge Lewis Liman said he will rule on “appropriate sanctions” against Giuliani at a later time.

Liman said Giuliani willfully flouted court orders, and he put little stock in his “self-serving testimony.”

“He has testified that he did not respond because he suspected the motives of plaintiff’s counsel. That is not an excuse for violating the court’s orders.” Liman said in court, per CNN.

“More important, as the court informed the defendant, if there was reason to believe the plaintiff’s counsel misused discovery or would misuse discovery, he could raise that with the court. It was not an excuse to take the law into his own hands,” the judge added.

In October, Giuliani was ordered to turn over almost everything he owns to election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who in 2023 won a $148 million defamation judgement against him in federal court. While leading Donald Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election, Giuliani falsely accused the mother and daughter of stuffing the ballot box for Joe Biden.

Last month Freeman and Moss asked Judge Liman to hold Giuliani in contempt, saying he’s fought their efforts to collect what they are owed at every turn. While he has handed over some assets — including dozens of luxury watches, a ring, and money from his bank account his Mercedes-Benz convertible — he’s missed multiple deadlines and claims he can’t locate some items. For example, Giuliani turned over his Manhattan apartment and Mercede without the paperwork needed to monetize the assets, and he said he’s lost track of a signed and framed Joe DiMaggio Yankees jersey that once hung above his fireplace.

“It is hard to square Mr. Giuliani’s position with reality,” Aaron Nathan, a lawyer for Moss and Shaye, wrote in a recent letter to the court. “Enough is enough.”

A day before the contempt hearing began last week, Giuliani asked to appear virtually, due to “having medical issues with his left knee” as well as “breathing problems due to lung issues” he sustained on 9/11. But Liman rejected the last-minute request, saying he had to appear in person. Giuliani testified in person on Friday, then appeared virtually on Monday from his Florida residence.

Giuliani is facing a second contempt hearing on January 10 in Washington, D.C., before Judge Beryl Howell, who presided over the original defamation trial, per Politico:

Freeman and Moss are asking Howell to hold Giuliani in contempt for violating an agreement not to make new defamatory claims about them. They say Giuliani renewed his false attacks during two recent podcast appearances.

Giuliani’s legal troubles go far beyond the contempt hearings. On January 16, Judge Liman will hold a trial to decide whether Giuliani should be allowed to hold onto his Yankees World Series rings and his condo in Palm Beach, Florida. He has also been criminally indicted in Arizona and Georgia for his efforts to help Trump steal the 2020 election. And Trump can’t pardon Giuliani in any of these state cases.