Judge Sets Monday Deadline For Giuliani To Hand Over Assets

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has until Monday, Nov. 11 to transfer some of his assets from his Palm Beach property to the law firm representing plaintiffs in the defamation suit against him.

Giuliani was convicted of defamation after two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, a mother and daughter, sued him after he claimed that they had illegally tampered with voting devices during the 2020 presidential election. He was hit with a nearly $150 million judgement.

Last month, Judge Lewis Liman ordered Giuliani to hand over his Manhattan apartment and other valuables to the plaintiffs. His lawyer, Kenneth Caruso, has vowed to fight the judgement and have it overturned, and challenged aspects of the transfer order on technical legal grounds.

During a Nov. 7 hearing, Caruso called it "vindictive" for the prosecution to force Giuliani to give up a watch that once belonged to the former mayor's grandfather - prompting a rebuke from Liman, who told Caruso that New York law makes no distinction between items of sentimental value and items lacking any such value.

As the Epoch Times notes further, the judge stated that he had an order from a Washington court, registered in his court, that mandated the transfer of assets to satisfy the defamation judgment, and that would guide his rulings.

Nathan, the Willkie Farr & Gallagher attorney, said the defense hasn’t been transparent or cooperative.

Nathan said he and his colleagues had only recently learned of the establishment of a limited liability company, Standard USA LLC, for which records indicate Giuliani held 88 percent ownership and associates of the former mayor held minority positions.

Logistics

During the hearing, the lawyers engaged in contentious exchanges with the judge about the location and value of certain of Giuliani’s assets. These included real estate, cars, jewelry, watches, and money.

At one point, the judge grew irritated with what he saw as vague and evasive answers on the part of the defense.

“The notion that your client doesn’t have any notion of where his assets are is farcical,” Liman told Caruso.

Giuliani spoke briefly on his own behalf and criticized what he saw as overly aggressive questioning directed at people close to him about his assets.

“Some of the questions are inappropriate, because of the way people have been treated,” Giuliani said.

The judge maintained that the former mayor had not offered a legally material pretext for evading a question about his assets.

“Nobody is going to exercise self-help. You’re going to answer that question fully and truthfully. Do you understand that?” the judge said, before overruling the former mayor’s objection.

Caruso acknowledged that items of value, among them jewelry and watches, including the watch that once belonged to Giuliani’s grandfather, are currently in Palm Beach, Florida, and nothing is impeding their transfer.

Neither Willkie Farr & Gallagher nor Giuliani’s legal team responded by publication time to a request for comment.