Rudy Giuliani Held In Contempt For Not Turning Over Assets To Georgia Election Workers

Topline

A federal judge ruled Monday ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani should be held in civil contempt for failing to turn over assets to two Georgia election workers, multiple outlets report, as the election workers have taken possession of Giuliani's assets after he was ordered to pay them $148 million for defaming them.

Key Facts

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman ruled to hold Giuliani in contempt Monday, but has not yet announced what specific sanctions the former attorney will face as a result.

Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss asked Liman in December to hold Giuliani in contempt for failing to turn over all the possessions he owed the plaintiffs, after they successfully sued him for defamation and Giuliani was ordered to pay $148 million in damages in December 2023.

Giuliani subsequently filed for bankruptcy 10 days after the defamation ruling and is fulfilling his debt by turning his possessions over to the election workers, but Freeman and Moss argued Giuliani did not turn over everything he was required to hand over by November 2024, including money from his bank accounts, some of his most valuable possessions like a shirt signed by baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, and the paperwork for his apartment and Mercedes-Benz.

Liman ruled following a two-day hearing over whether Giuliani should be held in contempt, at which Giuliani testified.

Giuliani admitted in court Monday that he didn’t turn over all the evidence, believing the order was overly broad or a “trap,” according to the Associated Press, and also claimed he had trouble turning over assets due to the high number of legal cases he’s facing.

What To Watch For

It’s unclear when Liman could announce what specific penalties Giuliani will face as a result of being held in contempt, which could be as severe as imposing prison time, though the plaintiffs have not specifically requested that. Giuliani faces a full month of legal proceedings in his dispute with the Georgia election workers. The ex-Trump attorney will have a second hearing over whether he should be held in civil contempt January 10 in Washington, D.C., as part of Freeman’s and Moss’ original defamation case against Giuliani. (Liman’s contempt ruling was issued as part of a separate legal dispute over the transfer of his possessions.) Freeman and Moss are also trying to have Giuliani held in contempt in that case because they argue Giuliani is continuing to defame them by making false claims tying them to fraud in the 2020 election. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, and Giuliani’s specific claims alleging Freeman and Moss were involved with fraud when counting ballots in Georgia have also been debunked. A court order barred Giuliani from continuing to make the defamatory claims, but Giuliani has kept bringing the election workers up on his nightly online broadcast in violation of the order, Freeman and Moss claim. Giuliani is also scheduled to go to trial against Freeman and Moss on January 16, as the parties dispute whether he has to turn over his condo in Florida and his New York Yankees World Series rings, the latter of which Giuliani claims he gave to his son Andrew Giuliani.

What Is Giuliani Turning Over To Freeman And Moss?

Giuliani has been ordered to turn over a wide range of his possessions to Freeman and Moss, including the ownership of his New York City apartment, cash in his bank account, his Mercedes-Benz, some furniture, a television, sports memorabilia, “costume jewelry,” a diamond ring and 26 watches. There are still some disputes over what has to be turned over besides the Florida condo and World Series rings, as Giuliani now claims he does not own any “costume jewelry”—despite previously listing them as part of his bankruptcy filing—and only owns 18 watches, rather than the 26 he originally claimed. Freeman and Moss pointed to those discrepancies as further evidence for why they believed Giuliani was not transferring all of his assets as required and should be held in contempt.

Key Background

Giuliani has faced mounting legal issues since he led President-elect Donald Trump’s unsuccessful legal efforts to challenge the 2020 election results, becoming one of the most outspoken people spreading false claims of fraud in the election. In addition to Freeman and Moss’ defamation suit over his false election fraud claims, voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic also sued Giuliani for making false fraud claims involving their machines. Both of those lawsuits are still pending. Giuliani also had his law license revoked for his post-election conduct, and now faces criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona, though the Georgia case is now on pause after a state appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from overseeing the case. (She is appealing the ruling.) Giuliani has remained defiant and vehemently opposed the legal efforts against him in the years since the election, continuing to repeat the false fraud claims and deny any wrongdoing. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

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