NEW YORK (AP) – A trial to decide whether Rudy Giuliani must give up his Florida condo and his three World Series rings or surrender them to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment was delayed until at least Thursday afternoon after the former New York City mayor failed to appear to testify.
The trialheard without a jury, was scheduled to begin Thursday morning in Manhattan federal court to decide whether Giuliani should turn over the assets to two former Georgia election workers who won the judgment against him.
Messages seeking comment were left with Giuliani’s lawyer and spokesperson.
Giuliani, 80, was scheduled to testify before the same judge who last week I found him contemptuous for failing to provide information about some of his assets to the women’s lawyers. As punishment, Judge Lewis J. Liman barred Giuliani from presenting evidence.
Giuliani, who for a time served as President-elect Donald Trump’s personal lawyer during his first term, was also found in contempt Last week in Washington, D.C., the judge found that Giuliani continued to slander election workers by repeating false allegations that they corruptly counted votes in the 2020 presidential election.
While waiting, Giuliani posted a video on social media showing a dog named Vinny on the grounds of Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida. The dog, according to the post, “loves hanging out at Mar-a-Lago” but is “ready to spend a lot more time in Washington, D.C.,” in support of Trump. It was not known exactly when the recording was made.
The latest proceedings will not focus on whether Giuliani defamed the women or the amount of the judgment against him, both of which have been decided, but rather on whether he will be able to keep certain valuable assets at the instead of returning them. .
Among them is his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida, which he can hang on to if he can prove it is his property. The former mayor claims he took up residence there in January 2024, but attorneys for the election staff say he continued to operate as if his New York apartment was his residence until it was returned to the fall as part of the judgment.
Also at stake are three World Series rings that Giuliani says he gave to his son, Andrew, in 2018.
At a recent hearing, Giuliani said he was “not poor” but did not have access to most of his remaining assets.
“Everything I have is blocked. I don’t have a car. I don’t have a credit card. I don’t have any money. I cannot access bank accounts that actually belong to me because they have issued stop orders, for example, on my social security account, which they have no right to do,” he declared.
Lawyers for election workers say Giuliani listed the Manhattan apartment as his residence and the rings are his property when he filed for bankruptcy in December 2023, a request that was rejected six months later by a judge who accused him of “uncooperative conduct,” self-serving dealings and a lack of transparency.
Giuliani said during a deposition Last month, George Steinbrenner, the late owner of the New York Yankees, gave him the rings in 2002, although he insisted on paying for them and told Steinbrenner: “These are for Andrew.” » He testified that he immediately gave one to Andrew and kept three others in a safe place. He estimated their total value at $27,000.
Attorneys for election workers say Giuliani, a longtime Yankees fan who sometimes wore the rings, never listed them as gifts to his son in tax records, even though he was meticulous in listing the gifts when he declared his taxes. And they say the son never got insurance for the rings or declared them on his own tax returns.
Giuliani’s total assets are not expected to exceed $10 million. The Palm Beach condominium is estimated to be worth more than $3 million.
He has already given away a New York apartment worth about $5 million, a 1980 Mercedes that belonged to movie star Lauren Bacall, numerous luxury watches and other assets.
Election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, won defamation judgment after saying Giiuliani’s lies about stealing the 2020 presidential election led to death threats that left them makes them fear for their lives.
