The former New York City Mayor has been under fire following his recent defamation case, in which he was ordered to pay $148 million back to two Georgia Election workers. During his court hearing Tuesday in Manhattan, Giuliani had a public outburst, “claiming that the judge was unfairly “against” him” (NY Post); this was due to a question being asked as to why Giuliani had not turned over assets to the defamed workers as he now owes them the heap of money.
This led to Giuliani claiming, “I’m not impoverished … Everything I have is tied up… I don’t have a car. I don’t have a credit card. I don’t have cash” (NY Post).
It was said that Judge Lewis Liman stopped the outburst, warning Giuliani, stating, “he could not speak again in court unless testifying under oath…there should be no higher priority for your client right now than complying with the court’s orders” (Yahoo! News).
“U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan previously threatened Giuliani with civil contempt for failing to surrender assets, including a luxury Manhattan apartment, to partially cover what he owes” (Yahoo! News).
This all goes back to the 2020 election, when Giuliani, a firm supporter of 2024 President-elect Donald Trump, was sued by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss for spreading “conspiracy theories about them after the 2020 election” (CNN Politics). Giuliani was found liable in the summer of 2023 after he failed to cooperate with the lawsuit.
Following the suit, Giuliani owed numerous fees, including “more than $200,000 for some of Freeman and Moss’ attorneys’ fees,” which he had not paid. Giuliani also owed more than $1 million to defense attorneys who’ve helped him on other matters, prompting them to sue him this year [2023], and hadn’t paid nearly $60,000 for years-old phone bills” (CNN Politics).
Last year, Freeman was awarded “$16,171,000 for defamation and $20 million for emotional distress” ” while Moss was awarded “$16,998,000 for defamation and $20 million for emotional distress” (CNN Politics). Freeman and Moss were also able to “take control of his bank accounts, $6 million Manhattan apartment, collection of luxury watches, valuable gifts he received after the September 11, 2001, attacks and baseball memorabilia”, In which “The mother and daughter plan to sell off the possessions to satisfy some of the debt Giuliani owes them” (CNN Politics).
It has not looked up for the former mayor, as now his lawyers are looking to quit his case because of disagreements between both parties. In a redacted court filing, Giuliani’s attorneys brought to Judge Liman that they ” must end their representation because of ethics rules that protect lawyers from working for clients with whom they have “a fundamental disagreement,” who are uncooperative, or if they are asked to contradict the law” (CNN Politics).
Giuliani was still required to deliver many of his possessions, as he waited for his trial until January 16, next year. During this trial, he was visibly upset as he “pouted, cradling his face with his hands” (NY Post). The trial is set to address whether Giuliani will have to surrender his Florida property and sports memorabilia. Giuliani and his team want to push this back as Giuliani looks to keep a hold of some of his possessions, as well as looking to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s January 20th inauguration. Joseph Cammarata, Giuliani’s lawyer, stated, “Giuliani has an “involvement” with the inauguration, and that he “regularly consults” with Trump” (NY Post).
Liman denied it, ruling that Giuliani did not have a good reason for delaying his court appearance, but “he’d be open to moving the trial up to January 13 or January 14 so that it can finish up in time for Giuliani to theoretically attend the even” (NY Post).
Giuliani must now wait to hear if the trial is set to be moved up or if the date will be set in stone.
