Former New York mayor and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani charged with contempt of court | Court news

Giuliani has been under pressure to turn over assets to pay a $148 million fine to Georgia election workers he allegedly defamed.

A judge in the United States has declared Rudy Giuliani, an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, in contempt of court for failing to fully respond to requests about his assets.

Monday was the second day of Giuliani’s contempt hearing, with US District Judge Lewis J Liman ultimately ruling that he “willfully violated a clear and unambiguous order of this court.”

It was the latest chapter in an ongoing civil suit in which Giuliani, a former New York mayor, responsible for defamation over allegations made after the 2020 presidential election.

In December 2023, a jury in Washington, DC, decided that Giuliani should be paid $73 million in damages and $75 million in punitive damages to two election workers he falsely accused of vote tampering.

Giuliani repeated Trump’s own baseless claims that his defeat in 2020 was the result of widespread election fraud.

According to attorneys, Giuliani’s allegations made two election workers, mother Ruby Freeman and daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, targets of repeated harassment and death threats.

On Monday, Judge Liman said Giuliani “missed” a Dec. 20 deadline to provide details of his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida, which could be used as an asset to pay the fines.

Attorneys for Moss and Freeman also accused Giuliani of ignoring their requests for information as they try to collect money they are owed.

For example, they said that Giuliani did turn over the Mercedes-Benz car to the authorities, as well as An apartment in New Yorkbut that he did not submit the documents necessary for their encashment.

They also claimed Giuliani failed to turn over sports memorabilia, watches and money from his “non-exempt cash accounts” that could have been used to pay the multimillion-dollar fine.

Monday’s decision largely focused on the Palm Beach apartment, which Giuliani claimed was his primary residence, in an attempt to protect it from foreclosure.

But Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the mother-daughter election workers, accused Giuliani of withholding documentation that could show Palm Beach was not his permanent home — making him another possible source of funds for the punishment.

However, Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, argued that the time frame was too short to provide all the necessary information — though he stressed that Giuliani had tried.

“Significant compliance has been achieved,” Cammarata said. “No contempt of court.”

Giuliani himself admitted that he was hesitant to hand over some documents, fearing that the requests were too extensive or even a legal “trap.”

He also quoted heavy toll required by the numerous legal cases he faces.

IN Georgiafor example, Giuliani is part of a stalled but ongoing criminal case accusing Trump and his allies of running a criminal enterprise to subvert the 2020 election.

In the meantime, in Arizonathe former mayor is part of another criminal indictment, also for spreading false election claims.

The 80-year-old Giuliani estimated that competing demands made it “impossible to function in an official way” a third of the time. He said he had not “willfully disobeyed” any court orders.

But Judge Liman appears to have rejected the argument that Giuliani was simply overworked.

“The fact that he is a busy person who has relied on others in the past is no excuse for disrespect,” Liman said.