Giuliani must turn over Manhattan apartment, other valuables to election workers he defamed, judge says
Ten months after a jury awarded two Georgia election workers nearly $150 million in a defamation lawsuit brought against Rudy Giuliani, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the former attorney to Donald Trump must fork over his luxurious New York apartment and other valuables.
Giuliani, who rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s as a federal prosecutor and mayor of New York City, has seven days to turn over his possessions to a receivership controlled by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Giuliani spread conspiracy theories targeting the ballot counters after Trump lost the 2020 election.
Giuliani has previously tried to sell the apartment for about $6 million.
In his 24-page order, Judge Lewis Liman also ruled that Freeman and Moss should be the beneficiaries of some $2 million that Giuliani has said Trump's 2020 campaign owes him. Other valuables he must turn over include more than two dozen high-end watches, a jersey signed by New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio, furniture and other sports memorabilia.
Liman deferred judgment on whether Freeman and Moss are owed a trio of World Series rings that Giuliani's son, Andrew, has said belong to him. Liman also declined to rule on whether Giuliani must turn over a condo in Palm Beach, Florida.
Giuliani has been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., and the fallout from his 2020 post-election actions has continued even as Trump is just two weeks away from an election that could see him retake the White House.
Giuliani no longer works for Trump directly, but in September 2023, the former president hosted a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club to aid Giuliani's legal bills.
Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said Giuliani "has faith that justice will ultimately prevail, and he will be fully vindicated."
"The court order requires Mayor Giuliani to turn over nearly all his personal possessions, even though the judgment is currently on appeal. They could have held off on this step, pending the appeal, but chose not to do so. It is painfully clear," he said in a statement. "They are attempting to bully and intimidate him into silence through the weaponization of our justice system and through obvious lawfare."
