Rudy Giuliani held in contempt and hit with sanctions for defying court orders in defamation case
Trump’s former attorney showed ‘blithe disregard’ for court’s orders as he tried to ‘run out the clock,’ judge says
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Rudy Giuliani has been found in contempt of court after repeatedly defying court orders and blowing deadlines as a pair of election workers he defamed seek to recover tens of millions of dollars he owes for his false claims in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
A two-day contempt hearing in federal court in Manhattan sought to determine whether the former New York City mayor had willfully evaded discovery requests and ignored questions about his properties in a lengthy legal battle for control of his assets.
Giuliani showed a “blithe disregard” for requests for documents, including sending over the names of his doctors, financial firms and lawyers, and another for his phone numbers, email accounts and messaging apps, according to District Judge Lewis Liman.
Attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss sought information to determine whether Donald Trump’s former attorney lived full time at his Florida condominium, which they hope to seize to begin chipping away at the $148 million he owes as part of a blockbuster defamation judgment.
Giuliani routinely came up with “meritless” excuses for failing to answer those questions, and ultimately only partially answered them, Liman announced from the bench inside a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Monday.
He offered “no substantial justifications” for blowing off deadlines and “willfully” violating court orders, and instead launched an attempt to “run the clock” in the proceedings, knowing that the real answers would be “injurious to his defense,” according to Liman.
Liman imposed so-called “adverse inferences” on those document requests; a list of doctors, financial firms and lawyers would show that none are in Florida, and his emails and messages would likely establish that his homestead claim to his Palm Beach address “never existed,” according to Liman’s order.
“The evidence of noncompliance is clear and convincing,” he said.
He also is holding Giuliani in contempt after failing to comply with months-old “clear and unambiguous” obligations to produce those documents.
Liman will determine penalties at a later date.
The judge is also separately considering whether to hold Giuliani in contempt for failing to turn over property.
Giuliani testified remotely by video link on Monday from his Palm Beach property.
He said nearly “every day has been hell” as he manages at least half a dozen criminal and civil cases, including more defamation lawsuits surrounding his false election claims.
“Some days it’s completely impossible,” he said.
He insisted he had done everything he could to comply with court orders “to the best of my ability,” but claimed he couldn’t find some documents or believed he had a right to resist them because of the “overbreadth” of “abusive” requests.
Giuliani feared his answers would be used against him in other cases or in attempts to impeach him, he testified Monday.
He also chalked up his failure to respond to questions about his email and social media accounts to his lack of technical ability.
“I would use an Italian expression: menzamenz,” he said when asked if he is “tech savvy.”
“So-so,” he said. “There’s a lot of things I can do, but a lot of things I can’t do and don’t understand. It’s hard to describe, but I get confused a lot.”
A long list of Giuliani’s assets — including a 1980 Mercedes Benz, his New York penthouse apartment and signed sports memorabilia — was initially included in Giuliani’s short-lived bankruptcy case, which he filed after a jury found him liable for defaming the two women in 2023.
Last month, attorneys for Freeman and Moss told the court that Giuliani “has not turned over a single dollar,” nor has he turned over a “number of specific items of personal property that he has been unambiguously ordered” to hand over — including the title to his convertible, keys to his Manhattan apartment, and valuable sports memorabilia,
“It is unclear at this point even where those possessions are located,” they wrote in court filings.
Giuliani has already delivered the car, more than a dozen watches, and a “single diamond ring,” as well as access to his New York penthouse apartment, “but no keys or ownership documents,” leaving the women “to sort through significant logistical obstacles to a sale, including the presence of his ex-wife’s name on the title,” attorneys wrote in court documents.
In a series of court filings on Christmas Eve, Giuliani implored Liman to reject a demand for sanctions and argued he had already turned over “everything” he was ordered.
But last week, Giuliani admitted that he did not hand over his grandfather’s gold pocketwatch, saying that he feared it would get “lost,” and he said he doesn’t know where he stored his Joe DiMaggio Yankees jersey, which at one point was pictured hanging in his Manhattan penthouse.
On Monday, he displayed the gold watch in front of his laptop camera. He also claimed that he discovered the title to his Mercedes.
The jersey wasn’t at his New York apartment when attorneys for election workers showed up last October — and neither was most of the furniture in the apartment, which had been cleared out days earlier. Post-It notes reading “take all” were posted on several pieces of furniture throughout the apartment, court filings show.
Giuliani said last week that it’s “possible” that the jersey was moved out in that time frame.
He also said there were “inconsistencies” in the bankruptcy filings, and “some things I didn’t have.”
Giuliani said he also “just can’t find” a signed picture of former New York Yankees legend Reggie Jackson, among the pieces of memorabilia in court documents.
“I get confused about what I have and don’t have,” he testified on January 3. “I know you find that hard, your honor, but I was blessed with a tremendous amount of Yankees memorabilia … I’m not hiding anything.”
Following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, Giuliani launched a spurious bid to reject election results in states Trump lost. In Georgia, he falsely accused Freeman and Moss of manipulating election results, which fueled a wave of harassment and abuse directed at the women.
They sued him for defamation in Washington, D.C., and in December 2023, a jury awarded them $148 million in damages.
He then filed for bankruptcy, but after a protracted legal battle, the case was dismissed earlier this year to let Giuliani and his many creditors battle for control of his assets in separate courtrooms overseeing the lawsuits against him.
Giuliani will appear at a separate contempt hearing in Washington on January 10 for allegedly breaking a court order against repeating defamatory statements about the women.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments