Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is preparing to take the stand as the initial witness in a trial that will decide the fate of his Florida condominium and three World Series rings. This legal proceeding seeks to address whether he must relinquish these prized possessions to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment awarded to two Georgia election workers.
Starting on Thursday morning, the trial will take place in a federal court located in Manhattan, without a jury present. Giuliani, now 80 years old, will appear before the same judge who recently found him in contempt for not providing necessary information about his assets to the lawyers representing the election workers. Judge Lewis J. Liman has already imposed a penalty on Giuliani by forbidding him from presenting certain evidence.
Additionally, Giuliani faced contempt charges in a separate case in Washington, D.C., where he was found to have continued making defamatory remarks about the two election workers, alleging their involvement in corrupt vote-counting during the 2020 presidential election. This upcoming trial is not aimed at re-evaluating whether Giuliani committed defamation or the amount of the judgment, both of which have already been resolved. Instead, it will focus on whether he can retain his valuable assets.
Among the assets in question is his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida. Giuliani claims it is his primary residence and that he established residency there in January 2024. In contrast, the election workers’ lawyers argue that he operated under the assumption that his New York apartment was his main residence until it was given up in the fall as part of the judgment.
Three World Series rings are also at stake. Giuliani insists he gifted these rings to his son, Andrew, in 2018. During a recent court hearing, Giuliani shared that while he is “not impoverished,” he lacks access to most of his assets. He expressed frustration over his current financial situation, stating, “Everything I have is tied up. I don’t have a car. I don’t have a credit card. I don’t have cash.” He added that access to bank accounts has been restricted due to court orders affecting his Social Security account.
The election workers’ legal team contends that Giuliani included his Manhattan apartment and the rings as his properties during his December 2023 bankruptcy filing. However, that application was dismissed after six months amid allegations of uncooperative conduct and lack of transparency.
During a deposition, Giuliani recounted that he received the rings from George Steinbrenner, the former owner of the New York Yankees, in 2002 but maintained that he paid for them with the intention of gifting them to his son. He claimed to have immediately given one ring to Andrew, while keeping three others for safekeeping, estimating their total value at around $27,000.
The election workers highlighted that Giuliani, an avid Yankees fan, never declared these rings as a gift in his tax documents, despite being diligent about reporting other gifts. Furthermore, they noted that Andrew never secured insurance for the rings nor recorded them in his tax filings.
Overall, Giuliani’s total assets are estimated to be slightly above $10 million, with the Palm Beach condo valued at over $3 million. He has previously surrendered several significant assets, including a New York apartment valued at about $5 million, a luxury 1980 Mercedes previously owned by actress Lauren Bacall, along with various high-end watches.
Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, are the election workers who secured the defamation judgment, having testified that Giuliani’s misleading claims regarding the theft of the 2020 presidential election resulted in severe threats to their lives.
