After he was found in contempt twice in one week, Rudy Giuliani faces another potentially treacherous week ahead at a trial to determine whether his Florida condominium and three World Series rings must be turned over to two Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation award against him.
The former New York City mayor was found in contempt on Friday by a Washington judge for repeating false claims that the workers corruptly counted votes in the 2020 presidential election. Last Monday, a New York judge found him in contempt for failing to adequately turn over evidence about his assets.
On Thursday, Giuliani, 80, faces trial in New York over whether he can keep his Palm Beach, Florida, condominium, which he asserts he established as his permanent residence a year ago, and whether he must turn over three World Series rings that he says he gave to his son in 2018.
Judge Lewis J. Liman, who will preside over the juryless trial in Manhattan federal court, is the same jurist who found Giuliani in contempt last Monday.
With his contempt order, Liman made rulings setting Giuliani back in the upcoming trial. He said Giuliani cannot offer testimony about texts or emails to show that he moved his residence to Florida since he failed to turn over any texts or emails as part of the pretrial exchange of evidence between lawyers.
Liman said he can also make adverse inferences about “gaps” in evidence resulting from Giuliani’s failure to turn over materials, including by rejecting any claims that Giuliani changed his professional services, such as doctors and lawyers, to individuals practicing in Florida after Jan. 1, 2024.
Giuliani has conceded that he sometimes did not turn over everything requested in the case because he believed what was being sought was overly broad, inappropriate or even a “trap” set by lawyers for the plaintiffs.
A request for comment Saturday was sent to a spokesperson for the former private attorney to President-elect Donald Trump.
At a November hearing, Giuliani said he was “not impoverished,” but his assets were tied up because of multiple legal proceedings he faces in several states.
Liman also issued an order several days ago asking all sides to describe whether the World Series rings Giuliani purchased from the New York Yankees should be stored with the court for safekeeping until it can be decided who will get them.
Lawyers for Andrew Giuliani said the rings are safely located in the bedroom closet of his New York City residence in a doorman building.
The judge raised the possibility of the court keeping the rings after Giuliani testified last Monday that he doesn’t know what happened to a valuable signed Joe DiMaggio baseball jersey after he last saw it at his Manhattan apartment about four months ago.
Following the testimony, lawyers for the election workers submitted written arguments to refute the claims that Giuliani gave the rings to his son in 2018. They noted, for instance, that Giuliani’s bankruptcy submission in 2023 listed the rings among his property.
The Florida property and World Series rings are the primary assets still in dispute from a portfolio of Giuliani assets that was estimated to exceed $10 million. The Palm Beach condominium is believed to be worth more than $3 million.
He has already given up assets, including a New York City apartment worth about $5 million, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall and numerous luxury watches and other belongings.
The Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, won the defamation judgment against Giuliani after saying his lies about the 2020 presidential election being stolen led to death threats that made them fear for their lives.
