Judge slams Rudy Giuliani's 'ridiculous' excuse for not turning over assets in defamation case

A federal judge reprimanded Rudy Giuliani on Thursday for making a “ridiculous” explanation for why he failed to comply with a court order to return valuables to former Georgia poll workers he defamed after the 2020 presidential campaign.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman made the remark in a New York courtroom after Giuliani's lawyer claimed the former mayor was unsure where some of his belongings were.

“The idea that your client has no knowledge of where his assets are is a travesty,” Liman told Giuliani attorney Ken Caruso.

Giuliani, a former personal attorney for President-elect Donald Trump, had been ordered to transfer personal property “including cash accounts, jewelry and valuables” to former campaign aide Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss by Oct. 29 to begin to comply with the $146 million libel judgment against him.

The judge ordered the hearing Thursday after lawyers for Freeman and Moss said Giuliani had failed to turn over any of the items he was specifically asked to hand over, including a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey, a luxury watch collection and jewelry.

Attorney Aaron Nathan said when they entered Giuliani's New York apartment last week, they found the valuables and some furniture had been removed.

Giuliani told reporters Thursday that “they lied” about moving items.

In a court filing, Nathan noted that in a real estate listing for the $5.7 million apartment that Giuliani must hand over to Freeman and Moss, the framed DiMaggio jersey was hanging in the living room. He compared this to a photo from October 31 when they entered the apartment, which showed that the jersey and numerous other items were no longer there.

“There was nothing but shenanigans,” Nathan said at Thursday’s hearing.

Giuliani claims the items were always where they said they were: at his homes in Palm Beach and New York, and at a storage facility in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, to which he said he did not have access.

He also said he doesn't know exactly what assets he still owns and where they might be located. Nathan denied that claim in a court filing, calling it “astonishing” because the list of items came from Giuliani's own disclosures this year in his now-dismissed bankruptcy case.

In court, Caruso tried to argue that there were two items Giuliani shouldn't hand over – a 1980 Mercedes formerly owned by Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall and a watch that belonged to Giuliani's grandfather.

Giuliani spoke to reporters on the watch before Thursday's hearing, saying “the law says” that Freeman and Moss are “not entitled to a lot of the things” they are asking for.

“For example, they want my grandfather’s watch. She is 150 years old. This is something of an heirloom. Normally you don’t get it unless you’re involved in political persecution,” Giuliani said.

In court, Caruso told the judge it was “vindictive” against Freeman and Moss to demand the watch, a claim the judge angrily dismissed.

Liman said he regularly presides over cases in which debtors large and small must turn over family heirlooms.

“If they have a debt, they have a debt to pay. It doesn’t matter if it was passed on,” Liman said.

Caruso also argued that his client should keep the Mercedes – which Giuliani took to Trump's polling place in Florida on Election Day – saying it was worth less than $4,000.

The judge denied that request and ordered Giuliani to hand over the title and keys to the car in the coming days.

“All property must be turned over to the bankruptcy trustee, and if not, I will hold him in contempt,” the judge said of Giuliani.

After court, Giuliani told reporters: “I will hand over everything I'm legally obligated to do… They weren't entirely clear.”

Attorneys for Freeman and Moss noted that both the car and the watch were specifically mentioned in the judge's Oct. 22 order.

Giuliani was hit with the massive monetary judgment last year after a judge found him liable for repeatedly defaming Freeman and Moss with his allegations that the pair committed fraud in the 2020 election.

Giuliani's allegations were investigated and found to be without merit, but he has not denied them.

“I did not defame her,” he told reporters on Thursday.