Judge says Giuliani faces contempt if he doesn’t turn over property to poll workers

(NEW YORK) -- A federal judge in New York on Thursday raised the possibility of holding Rudy Giuliani in contempt if he fails to turn over property by next week to the two Georgia poll workers he defamed after the 2020 election.

A 90-minute hearing devolved into what the judge called "griping" after a lawyer for former election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss accused Giuliani of "game playing" and an attorney for Giuliani accused the two women of being "vindictive."

A federal jury last year ordered Giuliani to pay Freeman and Moss nearly $150 million for defaming them with false accusations that the mother and daughter committed election fraud while the two were counting ballots in Georgia's Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.

Earlier this week, Freeman and Moss' attorney claimed that Giuliani had "secreted away" his property after the receivership controlled by the two election workers accessed Giuliani's apartment, only to find it virtually empty.

The former New York City mayor was given a Nov. 14 deadline to turn over the shares in his Upper East Side co-op apartment, valuable sports memorabilia, a Mercedes-Benz convertible, and luxury watches -- including one that belonged to Giuliani's grandfather.

When defense lawyer Ken Caruso complained that forcing Giuliani to relinquish his grandfather's watch was "vindictive," an exasperated Judge Lewis Liman said, "Oh come on!"

"The law is the law and I don't apply it differently to your client," Liman said. "Don't come to me and say something is vindictive."

The judge was equally unmoved by the defense argument that Giuliani's car, a blue Mercedes-Benz convertible once owned by the actress Lauren Bacall, was exempt from the judgment because it's worth less than $4,000.

"Monday the title and keys will be delivered as well as the physical location of the car," Judge Liman said.

Giuliani also balked at relinquishing about $2 million dollars he is owed for legal worked performed for Donald Trump.

"They wanted that money to make a political statement," Caruso said.

Liman did not budge and reminded Giuliani of the consequences.

"He is under an unqualified order to deliver all the receivership property to the receiver," Liman said. "If he doesn't comply then I'm sure I'll get a motion for contempt. If he hasn't delivered, and there is a way in which he could have delivered, he'll be subject to contempt sanctions."

Outside court, Giuliani accused Freeman and Moss of bringing a "political vendetta" that was "financed by the Bidens."

When ABC News asked whether he regretted defaming Freeman and Moss, Giuliani answered "No" before his lawyer stepped in to say the case was on appeal.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.