Giuliani to appear in New York court after missing deadline to surrender assets

NEW YORK – Rudy Giuliani will appear in a New York courtroom on Thursday to explain to a federal judge why he failed to surrender his valuables as part of $148 million libel judgment.

US District Judge Lewis Lyman ordered The former New York mayor will appear in court after lawyers for two former Georgia election officials facing a large verdict visited Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week and discovered that it was cleared weeks earlier.

The judge set an Oct. 29 deadline for the longtime ally of the once and future. President Donald Trump transfer most of his assets to lawyers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Vandrea “Shay” Moss.

His belongings include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, a shirt autographed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, and dozens of luxury watches and other valuables. .

Liman initially scheduled a conference call about the situation, but changed it to a hearing in Manhattan federal court, which Giuliani must attend after the judge learned of the visit to the former mayor’s apartment.

Aaron Nathan, an election attorney, wrote in a letter to Lyman that the house was already “virtually empty” when representatives of his clients visited a representative of the moving company to assess the transportation and storage needs of the property Giuliani was ordered to hand over. give up.

He said the group was told that most of the apartment’s contents, including artwork, sports memorabilia and other valuables, had been removed about four weeks earlier – some of the items had been placed in storage on Long Island.

Representatives for Giuliani did not respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment.

They have so far argued unsuccessfully that Giuliani should not be forced to hand over his assets while he appeals the decision.

Liman also rejected a request by Giuliani’s legal team to move Thursday’s court appearance to next week or conduct it by telephone as originally planned.

Meanwhile, Giuliani’s spokesman called the legal proceedings a scare tactic.

“Opposing counsel, acting either negligently or deliberately misleading, is simply attempting to further intimidate and intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is left penniless and homeless,” his spokesman Ted Goodman said earlier this week.

Giuliani was found liable for libel for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of voter fraud when he made unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud against Trump during the 2020 campaign.

The women said they received death threats after Giuliani accused the two of smuggling ballots in suitcases, recounting ballots multiple times and tampering with voting machines.