Giuliani has heated exchange with judge in heritage case

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani got into a heated exchange with a judge in his ongoing case involving the possible seizure of his assets by two former Georgia election officials.

The exchange

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman announced he would no longer allow the former New York mayor and former presidential candidate to make unsolicited remarks in court unless he testifies under oath.

The disruption occurred during a pretrial hearing in Manhattan, as the judge asked Giuliani’s lawyer why Giuliani had not yet surrendered the title to a car he had signed over in the part of efforts to respond to a $148 million defamation judgment against two former Georgia election workers. .

“Your client was the U.S. attorney for this district,” the judge remarked, referring to Giuliani’s tenure in the 1980s as head of the federal attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. He questioned Giuliani’s inability to get a double title for the car, suggesting it was hard to believe.

Giuliani leaned forward and addressed the judge through a microphone, explaining that he had requested a duplicate title for the car, but that it had not yet been issued.

“The implication that I did not exercise due diligence is completely incorrect,” Giuliani told the judge. “The implication you are making is against me and any implication against me is false.”

Giuliani continued: “I’m not poor. Everything I have is tied up. I don’t have a car. I don’t have a credit card. I don’t have cash. I don’t I can’t access the bank accounts that are really mine because they put… shutdown orders on, for example, my social security account, which they have no right to do.”

Judge Liman then warned Giuliani’s legal team, saying “he will not be allowed to speak and the court will take action.”

Judge Liman said if Giuliani wants to speak in court again, he will have to take the witness stand and testify under oath.

The case of Giuliani’s assets

Giuliani was convicted of defamation last year and ordered to pay $148 million to former election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, after accusing them of tampering with ballots while they were promoting President-elect Donald Trump’s debunked election fraud claims. The women said they received death threats following Giuliani’s allegations that they smuggled ballots into suitcases, counted votes repeatedly and tampered with voting machines.

Tuesday’s exchange came during a hearing in which the judge denied a request to postpone the Jan. 16 trial over the fate of Giuliani’s Florida home and his World Series rings.

The Florida residence and World Series rings are among the assets Giuliani is trying to protect from forfeiture under Liman’s order, which requires him to turn over numerous valuable assets to election officials.

Earlier in the hearing, defense attorney Joseph M. Cammarata asked for a one-month delay in the nonjury trial, citing Giuliani’s “involvement” in planning the president’s inauguration elected Donald Trump.

However, the judge denied the request, saying Giuliani’s “social calendar” was not a valid justification for delaying the trial.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.