Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani must hand over an apartment in the city and more assets worth $148 million for defamation to two election officials in Georgia, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
The judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Lewis Liman, today sentenced the former Republican Party mayor following allegations of fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, echoing the reactions of the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.
Polling station employees in the US state of Georgia, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea Moss, said they had been the target of death threats after Giuliani repeated what they called Trump’s lies about “stolen elections”. .
Following the decision, the former mayor of New York must hand over within seven days the apartment in Manhattan, estimated to be worth more than five million dollars, as well as the value of two million euros in interest, which Giuliani says Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign owes him for his services.
The former mayor will still have to hand over a 1980 Mercedes SL 500 car, 26 watches and sports memorabilia, but can keep, for now, a condominium in Florida and the three rings relating to New York’s 1998, 1999 and 2000 titles. Yankees in the North American Baseball League, as these assets are associated with other litigation.
Giuliani asked the judge to prevent Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss from selling any of their assets pending the conclusion of the appeal of the sentence, but the judge refused the request, stating that Giuliani did not ask the federal court in Washington to suspend the sale of assets. where Freeman and Moss won the libel case.
“The court has no doubt that some of the items may have sentimental value to the defendant. But that does not give the defendant the right to continue enjoying the assets to the detriment of the plaintiffs, to whom he owes approximately $150 million. After all , the policy underlying these New York statutes is that no man should be permitted to live both in luxury and in debt,” the ruling states.
In July 2024, Giuliani was expelled from practicing law by decision of a New York court due to false and repeated statements about the defeat of former US President Donald Trump in the 2020 elections.
