Judge to Weigh Contempt for Giuliani in Election Workers Case

A Manhattan federal judge will consider on Friday a request by two Georgia election workers to hold former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in civil contempt for refusing to turn over property as payment toward a $148 million defamation award.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss filed a lawsuit against Giuliani in 2021, alleging that his statements, linking them to claims of election fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, damaged their reputations.

Two years later, Giuliani conceded he made defamatory statements about them, and a judge ruled he was liable for defamation as a sanction against him for failing to turn over electronic records to Moss and Freeman.

A Washington, D.C., jury later ordered he pay Freeman and Moss roughly $73 million in compensation and $75 million as punishment.

Lawyers for Freeman and Moss now say Giuliani has ignored U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman's orders to give up his Manhattan apartment, title to a 1980 Mercedes and sports memorabilia, and respond to questions about a Palm Beach, Florida, condominium he owns.

They have urged Liman to hold him in contempt and punish him by finding he did not treat the Palm Beach condominium as his permanent residence, meaning it could be turned over.

Giuliani, 80, has stated that his daily life has been disrupted, which has made it challenging to obtain necessary paperwork, and that he has not intentionally ignored any court orders.

He has also said he relied on his previous lawyers in the case to comply with information requests from Freeman and Moss.

Those lawyers, Kenneth Caruso and David Labkowski, withdrew in November, saying it was in part because Giuliani refused to comply with those requests.

Giuliani's new lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, stated in a Dec. 19 filing that the case had become heavily influenced by political factors.

"This case is not really about the judgment," Cammarata wrote. "This is a battle between the left and the right."

A contempt citation in the district where he previously served could add to Giuliani's record of legal challenges, notably during his tenure as "America's Mayor" in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Giuliani has faced disbarment related to his claims about the 2020 election and has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona, linked to his association with Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results.

Reuters contributed to this report.