Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, is set to appear in a New York City courtroom to address a federal judge regarding his failure to surrender his assets as part of a $148 million defamation judgment. This judgment stems from a case involving two former Georgia election workers who were awarded the substantial sum.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman had instructed Giuliani to relinquish various valuables, including his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a vintage 1980 Mercedes once owned by actress Lauren Bacall, a shirt autographed by New York Yankees icon Joe DiMaggio, numerous luxury watches, and other valuable items. However, when representatives for the election workers visited Giuliani's Manhattan apartment, they found it had been mostly emptied out weeks prior.
Despite Giuliani's legal team's attempts to delay the surrender of assets while appealing the judgment, Judge Liman has ordered Giuliani to explain the situation in person at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. The judge was made aware of the apartment's state after the visit by the election workers' representatives.
An attorney for the election workers stated that the apartment was already significantly cleared out when they visited, with many items, including art, sports memorabilia, and other valuables, having been moved to storage on Long Island about four weeks earlier.
Giuliani's spokesperson has dismissed the legal proceedings as intimidation tactics, alleging that the opposing counsel is attempting to financially ruin Giuliani. The defamation case against Giuliani originated from his false accusations against the two election workers during the 2020 campaign, where he alleged ballot fraud without evidence, leading to death threats against the women.
