Source: Tom Williams / Getty
was found in contempt of court for failing to pay two Black
Georgia election workers he defamed, spurring online mockery.
On
Monday (January 6), a federal judge held Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for refusing to cooperate in turning over personal assets awarded to two Black women who served as poll workers in the state of Georgia. Giuliani had accused them of interference in the 2020 presidential election. The former mayor of New York City, citing health issues, was present to hear the ruling via video conference. After being
admonished by U.S. District Court Judge Lewis J. Liman for interrupting his own counsel, Giuliani did not return after the court took a recess for lunch. Giuliani was ordered to pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss 148 million dollars in a verdict decided last year for defamation.
“The defendant has been attempting to run out the clock,” Judge Liman said before stating that he wasn’t concerned with the 80-year-old’s insistence that he had numerous other obligations, noting that he “willfully violated a clear and unambiguous order of the court.” “The fact that he is a busy person and relied on others is not an excuse,” he said. The ruling of contempt also stated that Giuliani had deliberately blocked attempts by the legal team representing Moss and Freeman to determine his true primary address, which for years was a 10-room penthouse cooperative apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Other assets of the disbarred lawyer include a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible, 26 designer watches and rare New York Yankees collectibles, which include a rare jersey worn by Hall-of-Famer Joe DiMaggio.
Another asset, a condo in Palm Beach, Florida which is valued at $3.5 million, is the subject of another federal court hearing that Giuliani is set to appear at on Friday (January 10). Liman stated during the hearing that Giuliani’s attempts to dodge verification of his primary residence would allow the court to draw negative conclusions about his testimony in that hearing. The ruling earned Giuliani a bevy of comments mocking his situation on social media, particularly noting that the decision came on the fourth anniversary of the January 6th insurrection and the Trump advisor’s response to the courtroom sketch artist’s depiction of him.
