Judge slams Giuliani’s ‘farcical’ excuses for failing to turn over property to defamed election workers
Donald Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani could be held in contempt of court if he fails to turn over property to election workers he defamed in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
The cash-strapped former New York City mayor was ordered to a federal court hearing in Manhattan on Thursday after attorneys for a mother-daughter pair of election workers accused him of moving around and hiding a long list of valuables he has been court-ordered to turn over.
District Judge Lewis Liman initially gave Giuliani one week to turn over his property, including a New York penthouse and a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible. He was spotted riding in the passenger seat of the car while outside Trump’s polling location in Palm Beach, Florida, on Election Day.
Giuliani will have until November 14 to hand it all over, or risk severe sanctions, after attorneys for the women argued in court filings and in front of a judge that he has deliberately evaded their attempts to recover any of it.
At one point, Giuliani’s attorney Kenneth Caruso could not appear to answer who, other than his client, knows where any of those valuables are, while Giuliani himself told the judge that he refused to list any other names in court documents because his associates in the case have been “virtually tortured and treated terribly.”
“No one else in the world. Is that accurate?” Liman asked.
“I will look into that and report back,” Caruso said.
“Your client is right there,” the judge fired back. “The notion there is no information your client knows where his assets are is farcical.”
Liman told Giuliani to answer those sworn documents “truthfully and fully, and if necessary, take the stand under oath.”
Giuliani — sitting between his lawyer inside a building the former mayor himself opened nearly 30 years ago — was slumped in his chair with his arms folded, shaking his head and frequently trying to get his attorney’s attention while he was at a nearby podium sparring with the judge.
Caruso also accused the women’s legal team of a “vindictive” campaign to collect what the courts say they are owed, including Giuliani’s grandfather’s watch.
“Oh, come on. That’s ridiculous,” Liman fired back.
“Every day,” debtors in his courtroom — including a case involving a bodega order who shorted his employees’ wages — are ordered to turn over property, including heirlooms, Liman said.
“If they owe a debt, they owe debt,” whether that’s a bodega owner or Giuliani, he said. “The law is the law. … Don’t come to me and say it’s vindictive.”
