NEW YORK — A federal judge on Thursday threatened to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt after the former New York City mayor missed a court-imposed deadline to surrender his assets to two Georgia election workers he defamed.
At stake is a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible, more than a dozen luxury watches and bank accounts holding an unknown amount of cash. Giuliani must turn over the property to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who won a $148 million defamation verdict against him last year after Giuliani falsely accused them of committing election fraud in the 2020 election.
At one point during a court hearing Thursday, while lawyers were discussing the whereabouts of certain jewelry, Giuliani removed a gold ring from his pinky finger, placed it on the defense table and motioned to his lawyer, appearing to suggest his lawyer hand it to the plaintiffs’ attorneys on the spot.
Giuliani’s lawyer, Kenneth Caruso, handed the ring back to his client.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman last month ordered Giuliani to turn over a lengthy list of property within seven days. In addition to the Mercedes and other personal property, Giuliani was required to give up his Upper East Side apartment and a $2 million legal claim for unpaid attorneys’ fees from the Trump 2020 campaign and the Republican National Committee.