Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in a New York City courtroom on Thursday to account for his failure to hand over his valuable possessions following a $148 million defamation ruling.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman mandated Giuliani’s appearance after that the attorneys representing two former election workers from Georgia discovered that Giuliani’s Manhattan residence had been previously vacated during their visit last week.
The judge had earlier set a deadline of October 29 for Giuliani, a long-time ally of Donald Trump, to turn over various assets to Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss.
The items in question include a $5 million apartment located on the Upper East Side, a vintage 1980 Mercedes Benz previously owned by actress Lauren Bacall, a jersey signed by Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio, numerous luxury watches, and additional high-value items.
Initially, Liman had arranged a phone conference regarding this matter but opted for a court hearing instead after hearing of the recent developments regarding the emptying of Giuliani’s apartment.
Aaron Nathan, representing the election workers, informed the court that when his clients visited the apartment with a moving company official to discuss logistics for the items, they found the place to be mostly vacant.
Nathan indicated that they learned most of the apartment’s possessions, including valuable art and sports memorabilia, had been moved out approximately a month ago, with some items placed in storage on Long Island.
Giuliani’s representatives did not respond to requests for comments as of Wednesday.
They have previously contended without success that Giuliani should not be compelled to surrender his assets while he continues to appeal the defamation ruling against him.
Liman also rejected a request from Giuliani’s legal team to either reschedule the court hearing for the following week or hold it via phone as initially proposed.
A spokesperson for Giuliani characterized the ongoing legal actions as an attempt to intimidate him.
Ted Goodman, speaking on Giuliani’s behalf, accused opposing counsel of either negligence or intentional deception, suggesting they aim to financially ruin Giuliani to the point that he becomes homeless.
Giuliani has been found liable for defamation after falsely claiming that Freeman and Moss engaged in ballot fraud while he promoted unproven allegations of election misconduct during the 2020 presidential campaign.
The two women have reported facing serious threats to their lives following Giuliani’s claims that they were involved in illicit activities such as sneaking in ballots and manipulating counting procedures.