Giuliani Is Held In Contempt Of Court, But Avoids Jail

NEW YORK — A federal judge held Rudy Giuliani in civil contempt of court twice Monday for failing to adequately respond to requests for documents and information sought by two Georgia women who won a $148 million defamation verdict against him in 2023.

Although U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman had the power to jail Giuliani for his defiance of court orders, the judge stopped short of that penalty. Instead, Liman declared that Giuliani can no longer present the central legal defense that could have allowed the former New York City mayor to avoid handing over his Palm Beach condo to the two women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

Freeman and Moss have spent months trying to seize the condo and Giuliani’s other valuable assets as they attempt to recover the massive sum he owes them. But they say Giuliani has been recalcitrant in responding to mandatory requests about his property.

Freeman and Moss won the defamation judgment when a jury found that Giuliani falsely accused them of election fraud after the 2020 election. The two women, who are mother and daughter, were tormented by harassment and death threats after Giuliani spread lies about them.

Giuliani has refused to respond to their requests for certain information related to his whereabouts and lifestyle that might help determine whether he truly made the Palm Beach condo his primary residence, as he has claimed. The information requests included lists of doctors and lawyers with whom he has consulted in recent years, as well as the identity of email, messaging or other communications accounts.

As a result, Liman found Giuliani in contempt and limited what evidence he can present in his defense at a trial scheduled for next week over whether he can keep the condo. And Liman, who will oversee and decide the outcome of the trial, signaled that he will conclude that Giuliani doesn’t have certain information to support his claim that the condo was his primary residence.

Those two penalties will put Giuliani in dire jeopardy of having to forfeit the property, his last remaining residence, to the women.

“Defendant willfully violated the clear and unambiguous order of the court,” Liman said Monday, adding that he “takes judicial notice of the fact that [Giuliani] was until recently a barred attorney.”

The former New York City mayor testified during the contempt hearing, appearing in person in federal court on Friday and continuing his testimony virtually when it continued Monday. Though he attempted to offer explanations for his failure to produce the information or documents, Liman said he found the responses insufficient — even “preposterous.”

At one point, Giuliani defended his actions by saying he was skeptical of the motives of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Liman said Monday that such concern “is not an excuse for violating the court’s orders.”

“It was not an excuse to take the law into his own hands,” Liman said of Giuliani.

Liman noted that Giuliani, in his testimony, had expressed worry about the security of his communications and that his personal contact information could be exposed. But when a plaintiff’s attorney inadvertently displayed a document Friday that showed Giuliani’s email address and phone number, it was Liman, not Giuliani, the judge noted Monday, who asked her to remove it from view.

Liman held Giuliani in contempt a second time Monday for his failure to comply with discovery obligations, but said he would impose sanctions at a later date.

The rulings were a significant legal blow to Giuliani, even as he has juggled numerous civil and criminal cases in recent years. Nevertheless, he has continued to receive the support of his most famous client, President-elect Donald Trump, who last weekend described Giuliani as “the greatest mayor.”

“But what they’ve done to Rudy…” Trump said, predicting: “Rudy’s going to come out on top.”

On Friday, Giuliani is scheduled to have a second, separate contempt hearing in Washington in front of U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who presided over the defamation trial in December 2023.

Freeman and Moss are asking Howell, who is likely to have little patience for Giuliani, to hold Giuliani in contempt for violating an agreement not to make new defamatory claims about them. They argue that Giuliani renewed his false attacks during two recent podcast appearances.

Freeman and Moss have already taken possession of much of Giuliani’s property, including watches, a ring and a vintage Mercedes-Benz convertible. Giuliani is in the process of turning over his Manhattan apartment, too.

But Giuliani has resisted those efforts, and he has failed to turn over a number of items ordered by the court, including a Joe DiMaggio jersey and his grandfather’s pocket watch.

In testimony Friday, Giuliani outright said he had refused to part with the watch because he fears the plaintiffs will lose it and instead has kept it in a safe deposit box. During his Monday testimony, he dangled the watch in front of the camera.

He repeatedly claimed during testimony that he can’t find the jersey.

His compliance, or lack thereof, in response to the court’s orders to turn over his property is the subject of a separate contempt motion by Freeman and Moss. Liman said Monday that he would take that up at a later date.