Rudy Giuliani will appear in a New York City court on Thursday to explain to a federal judge why he didn’t turn over his valuables as part of a $148 million defamation verdict.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ordered the former New York mayor to report to the court after lawyers for two former Georgia election workers who received huge verdicts last week visited Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment and discovered that It had been cleaned up a few weeks ago.
A judge sets an Oct. 29 deadline for longtime Donald Trump ally to turn over his many properties to Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandria “Shaye” ·Wandrea “Shaye” Moss’ attorney.
The properties include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall and an autograph by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio. shirts, dozens of luxury watches and other valuables.
Liman originally scheduled a conference call on the situation, but after a judge learned of Giuliani’s visit to the former mayor’s apartment, he changed it to a hearing in Manhattan federal court, which Giuliani must attend .
Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the election staff, wrote in a letter to Liman that when his client representatives visited moving company officials to assess the transportation and storage needs of the property where Giuliani was ordered to relocate By that time, the residence was “essentially empty.”
He said the group was told that most of the apartment’s contents, including art, sports memorabilia and other valuables, were moved out about four weeks ago and some were stored in a Long Island warehouse.
Representatives for Giuliani did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
They have so far argued unsuccessfully that Giuliani should not be forced to turn over his belongings while he appeals the verdict.
Liman also rejected a request from Giuliani’s legal team to postpone Thursday’s court appearance until next week or to hold it by phone as originally planned.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Giuliani dismissed the legal dispute as an intimidation tactic.
Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Mayor Giuliani, said earlier this week that “the opposing counsel’s actions were either negligent or intentionally acted in a deceptive manner in an attempt to further bully and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until He became penniless and homeless.
Giuliani was convicted of defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of vote fraud while pushing Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud during the 2020 campaign.
The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani accused the two of sneaking ballots into suitcases, counting votes multiple times and tampering with voting machines.
