Giuliani Held in Contempt After Not Turning Over Penthouse and Sports Memorabilia
A judge found Rudy Giuliani in contempt of the court after he failed to turn over information that would allow his assets to be seized to pay out a $148 million defamation suit.
The former New York City mayor and Donald Trump ally was sued for defamation by two Georgia election workers who he claimed tampered with ballots during the 2020 presidential election.
Giuliani, who was once known as “America’s Mayor,” was ordered in October to give up his New York penthouse, a Mercedes-Benz and sports memorabilia along with money to satisfy the suit.
Giuliani turned over his penthouse and car, but not the paperwork needed to monetize it, court papers said. He has also failed to surrender watches, claims to not know where a valuable Joe DiMaggio jersey is and has not paid out “a single dollar” to the election workers.
The election workers' lawyers said that Giuliani has displayed a “consistent pattern of willful defiance” since the judge’s order.
Giuliani admitted during a testimony in court on Monday that he did not want to turn over his assets because he found the requests overly broad, inappropriate and even a “trap” set by lawyers.
He added that the requests to turn over assets and information made it “impossible to function in an official way” 30 to 40 percent of the time.
A spokesman for Giuliani said the trial is part of an “ongoing politically motivated vendetta” to “destroy” Giuliani.
“It’s tragic to watch as our justice system has been turned into a total mockery,” Ted Goodman, the spokesman, continued in a statement to the Daily Beast.
“Willkie, Farr & Gallagher might be happy to fight to take away Mayor Giuliani’s most cherished personal belongings including his signed baseball jersey of his childhood hero and his grandfather’s pocket watch, but they can never take away his extraordinary record of public service, where he lifted more people out of poverty than any modern mayor, took down the Mafia, cleaned up Wall Street, saved New York City and comforted the nation following September 11th,” Goodman added.
A lawyer for the election workers is also pushing for the judge to rule that Giuliani’s Palm Beach home is not his primary residence, and is therefore able to be seized.
Giuliani’s lawyer said that such a ruling would be a civil “death penalty” because it would allow Giuliani to lose the house before the trial in mid-January about the house and sports memorabilia.
It’s not yet clear what punishment Giuliani will receive in the Georgia case.
