Rudy Giuliani was held in contempt Monday for failing to comply with discovery requirements in his ongoing defamation case brought by two Georgia election workers.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman slammed the disgraced politico for his “blithe disregard” of court orders, and said his behavior during discovery had been “preposterous.” Giuliani had been ordered to pay 2020 election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss $148 million for repeatedly defaming them as part of Donald Trump’s election fraud conspiracies. But the ex-mayor was less than forthcoming in forking over the money and assets that he owed.
Liman said that Giuliani “has testified that he did not respond because he suspected the motives of plaintiff’s counsel. That is not an excuse for violating the court’s orders.”
“More important, as the Court informed the defendant, if there was reason to believe the plaintiff’s counsel misused discovery or would misuse discovery, he could raise that with the court. It was not an excuse to take the law into his own hands,” Liman continued.
It seems that Liman had had enough of Giuliani’s screwing around Monday. At one point during proceedings, Giuliani’s attorney asked if he could “explain whether he violated any court orders,” according to MSNBC’s Adam Klasfeld. When the plaintiffs’ lawyers objected, Liman allowed it, noting that the “witness’s self-serving statement carries limited weight.”
Last week, Giuliani appeared in court to determine whether he needed to hand over his $3.5 million Florida condominium to the plaintiffs. He’d claimed that the condo was his permanent residence, granting it homestead protections from debt collectors, but lawyers for Freeman and Moss argued that he was lying about the property. For his part, Giuliani seemed more worried how his courtroom sketch would turn out.
