Giuliani was forced to hand over millions of dollars in assets to Georgia election officials

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Former attorney Rudy Giuliani must begin turning over his personal assets and property within the next seven days to the Georgia election officials he defamed, a federal judge ruled Tuesday after Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss fought over it To get the $148 million that Giuliani was ordered to pay almost a year ago as he continues to struggle with financial difficulties.

Important facts

What you should pay attention to

One asset that is still in dispute is Giuliani's condominium in Palm Beach, Florida, as Giuliani seeks to apply for an exemption under Florida law that would prohibit judicial seizure of the property. Liman did not issue a decision on the condo Tuesday and said it would be discussed at an Oct. 28 hearing, but said Giuliani could not try to sell the condo or do anything that would reduce its value in the meantime.

Surprising fact

Liman criticized Giuliani's argument that ordering him to reclaim his $2 million from Trump and the RNC before the election would create the “confusing and inaccurate” impression that he was targeting Trump. “The deep irony reflected in defendant's alleged concern is not lost on the court,” Liman wrote, noting that Giuliani is now worried about creating inaccurate appearances in the 2024 election, despite supporting Freeman and Moss defamed them by spreading false claims about the 2020 election in which they were involved.

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The dispute over money Giuliani is owed for his work in 2020 comes weeks after a trial in Trump's criminal case over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election was made public and claimed the ex-president had not intended to Giuliani to pay unless the lawyer actually won in court. Trump allegedly hired Giuliani to lead his legal team because he was “willing to falsely claim victory and knowingly spread false claims of election fraud,” special counsel Jack Smith alleged in the filing. The Trump campaign has not won any of its cases in court, except for a minor case in Pennsylvania in which Giuliani was not involved.

Important background

Giuliani led Trump's legal team after the 2020 election, helping to file ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits on the ex-president's behalf and lobbying state lawmakers to reject their states' results. As part of his work on Trump's behalf, he also spread widespread lies about voter fraud, including claims about voting machines changing votes and about Freeman and Moss helping to commit fraud in Georgia. The former mayor of New York City faced serious consequences: he lost his personal property and assets, had his law license revoked, and faced criminal charges. Giuliani has been sued for defamation by election officials as well as voting machine makers Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, whose defamation cases against him are still pending. Courts in New York and Washington, D.C. have disbarred Giuliani because of his post-election activities, and he has been indicted in Georgia and Arizona for helping Trump overturn the election. The former lawyer remained defiant despite the penalties imposed on him and continued to falsely claim that there were irregularities in the 2020 election. Speaker Goodman claimed after Giuliani was indicted in Arizona that the former mayor was being unfairly punished for being “willing to take on Washington's permanent political class.”

Further reading

ForbesGiuliani disbarred in DC: Here are all the other ex-Trump lawyers who are now facing legal consequencesFrom Alison Durkee

ForbesGiuliani must pay $148 million in damages for defaming election workers in GeorgiaFrom Alison Durkee
ForbesRudy Giuliani's $148 million defamation lawsuit over false Georgia voter fraud claims upheld by judgeFrom Molly Bohannon
ForbesRudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148 million to defamed poll workersFrom Antonio Pequeno IV