Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, appeared in a New York court on Friday (Jan. 3) for a hearing to determine if he will be found in contempt of court for ignoring court orders.
For months, Giuliani has stalled in turning over assets that would satisfy Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss’ $146 million defamation judgment against him. In 2021, the Georgia poll workers sued Giuliani for ruining their reputations.
Giuliani repeated the lie that a surveillance video showed the women hiding and counting suitcases filled with illegal ballots at a basketball arena in Atlanta that was used to process votes during the 2020 election.
Two years later, Giuliani admitted that the comments he made were untrue. This led to a judge ruling that he was liable for defamation as a sanction against Giuliani for failing to turn over electronic records to Moss and Freeman.
A Washington, D.C., jury ultimately ordered he pay the pair nearly $73 million in compensation and an additional $75 million as punishment.
During the hearing, Aaron Nathan—the attorney for Freeman and Moss—stated that Giuliani had stonewalled their requests for information in a case over how he will pay a $148 million defamation award.
He also encouraged U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman to hold former the New York City mayor in civil contempt.
“[Giuliani] willfully refused to search for and produce documents that would have been responsive to the plaintiffs’ request for production,” Nathan explained in Manhattan federal court per Reuters.
Nathan also told Liman that Giuliani had failed to send them documents that would have helped them figure out whether he must surrender a Palm Beach, Florida, condominium he owns.
However, Giuliani fired back that his life has been wholly interrupted by the election workers and that he has not “willfully disobeyed” any court orders. He also said he relied on his former lawyers in the case to handle requests from Freeman and Moss.
Nathan believes Giuliani should be held in contempt for not complying with Liman’s orders to give up his Manhattan residence, title to a 1980 Mercedes and sports memorabilia.
Though Giuliani’s fate is still undecided, he has been disbarred for making false claims about the 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Arizona and Georgia that he helped Trump’s failed attempt to overturn his defeat.