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Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City on September 11, 2022, on the 21st anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania (John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx).
Rudy Giuliani appeared in a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Friday for a hearing on whether he should be held in contempt after the onetime personal attorney for President-elect Donald Trump allegedly flouted multiple court orders in connection with the two Georgia election workers he defamed trying to collect the $148 million judgment awarded in their favor.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman, a Trump appointee, ordered Giuliani to appear in person for the Jan. 3 hearing on the contempt issue following numerous requests from the plaintiffs regarding his “consistent pattern of willful defiance” involving court orders to turn over of his personal property and provide information to plaintiffs for discovery.
Liman on Thursday rejected Giuliani’s last-minute request to appear virtually for the contempt hearing after the former New York City mayor said he was “having medical issues with his left knee” as well as “breathing problems due to lung issues” that were the result of him “being at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.”
The hearing, which began at 10 a.m., went through the day and will be continued at the same time on Monday. However, Liman will allow Giuliani to appear virtually for the proceedings as he will not be questioned by plaintiff’s counsel again.
During the proceedings, Giuliani claimed that he part of the problem with his failure to produce pre-trial discovery was that he did not believe emails constituted “communication,” according to the Inner City Press, which attended the hearing.
According to the report, Giuliani was testifying under oath when he made the seemingly outlandish claim.
“Do you understand that the term ‘communications’ would include emails?” Freeman and Moss’ attorney asked Giuliani, per Inner City Press.
“I don’t think so, no,” Giuliani reportedly responded.
“It is your testimony that emails are not communications?” plaintiffs’ attorney said in retort.
Giuliani reportedly held his ground, saying of emails, “They are more like documents.”
Friday’s hearing came after Liman last week signaled that he was likely to punish Giuliani for his repeated failures to follow court orders and called out the former U.S. attorney for filing court documents explaining his shortcomings with assertions Giuliani knew “to be untrue.”
Giuliani has had a rocky relationship with Liman, even going so far as to interrupt the judge during an in-person hearing last month to exclaim, “You are against me!” to Liman.
Following that hearing, Giuliani spoke to reporters outside the courthouse, where he railed against Liman, accusing the jurist of being an “activist Democrat,” Politico reported. Liman was appointed to the court by Donald Trump in 2019.
“Have you figured out what side he’s on? Are you too dumb to see what side he’s on?” Giuliani reportedly asked. “I’ve been a lawyer for 55 years. I can figure out what side he’s on.”
Giuliani reportedly continued the Liman diatribe as he got on the elevator.
“He doesn’t give a damn about the truth. He just gives a damn about being popular,” adding, “This is lawfare with capital letters.”
Giuliani’s legal woes are far from over, as he is scheduled to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C. next week for a separate contempt hearing before U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who presided over the defamation trial just over a year ago.
That hearing stems from Freeman and Moss seeking to hold Giuliani in contempt for allegedly violating an order barring him from repeating the defamatory claims he made about the duo. The election workers in November filed a motion claiming his defamatory campaign against them continued even after they were awarded the astronomical judgment and Giuliani declared bankruptcy.
According to the filing, the former U.S. Attorney for Manhattan had been “brazenly violating that consent injunction” by repeating “the exact same lies” that resulted in the initial defamation judgment against Giuliani.
Giuliani’s dealings with Howell have not been much better than those he’s had with Liman. After missing a filing deadline with her last month to respond to the motion for contempt, Giuliani claimed it was Howell’s bias that had made it impossible for him to hire an attorney to represent him in the matter.
“I have spoken to four attorneys and each attorney has declined to handle this matter because they believe Your Honor is unreasonable and biased about [Donald] Trump-related matters and ‘ideological rather than logical,’” Giuliani wrote. “One said it was ‘a foregone conclusion’ and ‘a no-win proposition.’ Among other numerous reasons your handling of the J6 (Jan. 6) cases is considered by many to be the most unnecessarily harsh.”
Giuliani is scheduled to appear before Liman again on Jan. 16, to begin trial over whether he will have to turnover his Yankees World Series Rings and Florida condominium to Moss and Freeman.
