In 2020, Rudy Giuliani completely lost the plot. The plot was already on its way out the door for years beforehand, but 2020 was the year where Rudy went all-in on Donald Trump. After Trump lost the 2020 election, Rudy (who was acting as Trump’s lawyer) went on a nationwide ratf–king tour, farting while giving testimony to various state legislatures about why they should throw out their election results. He was a huge part of Trump’s plot to subvert the election. While we all remember the hilarity of Rudy’s Four Seasons Landscaping debacle, few remember that he was actually in Philadelphia at the time specifically because he was trying to f–k with the ballot counting in Pennsylvania. He went even further in Georgia, in Michigan and several other states, and he specifically defamed several election workers. Over the summer, Rudy was disbarred in the state of New York. Then last month, Giuliani was disbarred in Washington (he was a former federal prosecutor). Now there’s another punishment: Rudy has to turn over his NYC apartment and all of his luxury items to the two Georgia election workers whom he defamed.
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Rudy Giuliani to turn over a lengthy list of property, including his Upper East Side apartment, to the two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation verdict last year against the former New York City mayor.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman is a significant loss for Giuliani, who has so far resisted paying any portion of the judgment. Giuliani must turn over the property, which also includes a Mercedes-Benz, more than a dozen luxury watches, cash and a $2 million legal claim for unpaid attorneys’ fees from the Trump 2020 campaign and the Republican National Committee, within seven days.
The two Georgia women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, had also asked Liman to turn over Giuliani’s Palm Beach condo to them. But the judge delayed a decision on that because it is the subject of a separate lawsuit from Freeman and Moss, who say Giuliani is trying to shield the Florida property from creditors by falsely claiming it as his residence so he could give it “homestead” status under that state’s law.
Freeman and Moss won a defamation lawsuit against Giuliani for falsely accusing them of committing election fraud in the 2020 election. He had falsely accused them of manipulating ballots, a jury found, and his allegations resulted in a barrage of threats and harassment, causing them to suffer professional consequences. Though Giuliani declared bankruptcy following the verdict, in July a judge dismissed the bankruptcy case, citing Giuliani’s “uncooperative conduct” and failure “to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs.” The dismissal allowed the women, two of his biggest creditors, to begin pursuing his assets.
Disappointed to hear that the two women will likely sell the penthouse, because this whole situation sounds like an excellent premise to a sitcom. Jon Hamm would play the Giuliani character, but the main story would be about two Georgia ladies making their way in New York, living in a grand penthouse they won in court after the former mayor defamed them. Anyway, I’m so happy for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and I hope they get every single penny they’re owed. I hope they get all of Rudy’s watches, his secret bank accounts, his apartments, everything. I hope Ruby and Shaye sell their life rights to a network and they create a sitcom too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.