By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A judge on Monday found Rudy Giuliani to be in civil contempt of court in a case brought by two Georgia election workers that the former New York City Mayor falsely accused of trying to help steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden.
U.S. District Judge Lewis (JO:LEWJ) Liman in Manhattan said Giuliani had not complied with requests from the election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss, for information that could help them determine which of his assets may be turned over to pay off the defamation judgment.
“The fact that he is a busy person who in the past relied on others is not an excuse for noncompliance,” Liman said.
The contempt citation in the district where Giuliani had been the top federal prosecutor marks a further fall from grace for Giuliani, once known as “America’s Mayor” for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit Freeman and Moss brought against Giuliani in 2021. They accused the former personal lawyer to Republican President-elect Donald Trump of destroying their reputations by lying that they tried to help steal the 2020 election.
Giuliani made repeated false claims that a surveillance video showed the pair concealing and counting suitcases filled with illegal ballots at a basketball arena in Atlanta that was used to process votes.
Giuliani has been disbarred for making false claims about the 2020 election, and pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona that he aided Trump’s failed attempt to overturn his loss.
In July 2023, Giuliani conceded he made defamatory statements about Freeman and Moss, and a judge that August ruled he was liable for defamation as a sanction against him for failing to turn over electronic records to the two election workers.
A Washington, D.C., jury later ordered he pay Freeman and Moss roughly $73 million in compensation and $75 million as punishment.
Liman said on Monday he had not yet determined the punishment Giuliani would face for contempt.
But the judge also ruled that Giuliani had not responded to questions from Moss and Freeman about a Palm Beach, Florida, condominium he owns.
Liman said he would presume Giuliani’s lack of response suggested the answers would be unfavorable to him at an upcoming Jan. 16 trial over whether he treated the condominium as his permanent residence. Freeman and Moss contend Giuliani did not live there full time, meaning it could be turned over.
Lawyers for Freeman and Moss have also urged Liman to hold Giuliani in contempt for ignoring his orders to give up his Manhattan apartment, title to a 1980 Mercedes and sports memorabilia. That request is still pending.
Giuliani, 80, has claimed that his day-to-day life has been upended by the two election workers, making it difficult to obtain necessary paperwork, and that he has not “willfully disobeyed” any court orders.
Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, said on Monday that the time frame for Giuliani to respond to the election workers’ demands was tight but that he sought to comply.
“There’s been substantial compliance,” Cammarata said. “There is no defiance to the court.”