Giuliani Must Hand Over Assets—Including NYC Apartment—To Defamed Georgia Election Workers, Judge Rules

Topline

Ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani must start turning over his personal assets and property to the Georgia election workers he defamed within the next seven days, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, after Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss fought to get the $148 million Giuliani was ordered to pay them nearly a year ago as he faces continued financial troubles.

Key Facts

Giuliani was ordered to pay Freeman and Moss $148 million in damages in December for spreading lies about them after the 2020 election, and the plaintiffs are now owed that payment after a federal judge upheld the judgment against Giuliani in April.

Giuliani does not have $148 million in cash to pay them and filed for bankruptcy in December as a result of the ruling, so a judge has had to figure out how Giuliani’s assets should be turned over to the election workers in order to satisfy the judgment.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled Tuesday that Giuliani must turn over specific “personal and real property in his possession” to Freeman and Moss within seven days, including the ownership of his New York City apartment, cash in his bank account, a Mercedes-Benz, some furniture, a television, sports memorabilia, “costume jewelry,” a diamond ring and 26 watches.

The judge also allowed Freeman and Moss to go after the $2 million that Giuliani says former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee still owe him for the legal work he did for the Trump campaign after the 2020 election—despite Giuliani asking the court not to seek that money until after Election Day, because he was worried it would look like he was suing Trump and cause a media frenzy.

Giuliani asked the court not to allow some personal items to be turned over yet—or at least not sold for a profit—because he still believes an appeals court will overturn his judgment and he could get his property back, but Liman struck down his arguments, saying Giuliani didn’t follow the proper legal procedures to shield his possessions.

Giuliani’s spokesperson Ted Goodman has not yet responded to a request for comment.

What To Watch For

One asset that’s still at issue is Giuliani’s condo in Palm Beach, Florida, as Giuliani is trying to claim an exemption under Florida law that would prohibit the property from being seized by a court. Liman didn’t issue a ruling on the condo Tuesday, saying it will be discussed at an Oct. 28 hearing, but said Giuliani can’t try to sell the condo in the meantime or do anything that would diminish its value.

Surprising Fact

Liman slammed Giuliani’s argument that ordering him to get his $2 million back from Trump and the RNC before the election would create the “confusing and inaccurate” appearance that he was going after Trump. “The profound irony manifest in Defendant’s alleged concern is not lost on the Court,” Liman wrote, noting Giuliani is now worried about creating inaccurate appearances in the 2024 election despite defaming Freeman and Moss by spreading false claims about the 2020 election involving them.

Tangent

The dispute over the money Giuliani is owed for his 2020 work comes weeks after a court filing made public in Trump’s criminal case for trying to overturn the 2020 election alleged the ex-president did not intend to pay Giuliani unless the attorney actually won in court. Trump allegedly hired Giuliani to lead his legal team because he “was willing to falsely claim victory and spread knowingly false claims of election fraud,” Special Counsel Jack Smith alleged in the filing. The Trump campaign did not win any of its cases in court, other than a minor Pennsylvania case that Giuliani was not involved with.

Key Background

Giuliani led Trump’s legal team in the wake of the 2020 election, helping bring ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits on the ex-president’s behalf and lobbying state lawmakers to reject their states’ results. He also spread widespread lies about election fraud as part of his work helping Trump, including claims about voting machines changing votes and Freeman and Moss helping to perpetrate fraud in Georgia. The former New York City mayor has faced serious consequences as a result, losing his personal property and wealth while also having his law license stripped and facing criminal charges. Giuliani was sued for defamation by the election workers as well as voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, whose defamation cases against him are still pending. Courts in New York and Washington, D.C., have disbarred Giuliani as a result of his post-election activities, and he has been indicted in Georgia and Arizona for helping Trump try to overturn the election. The ex-attorney has remained defiant in the wake of the punishments against him and continued to falsely claim there were irregularities in the 2020 election, with spokesman Goodman claiming after Giuliani was indicted in Arizona that the former mayor is being unfairly punished for being “willing to take on the permanent Washington political class.”

Further Reading