Federal judge orders Rudy Giuliani to surrender luxury apartment, but not World Series rings

Rudy Giuliani – or at least his son Andrew – gets to keep his three World Series rings. Currently.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman on Tuesday ordered Giuliani to turn over his property to resolve a $145 million civil judgment for defaming two Georgia poll workers after the 2020 election by falsely claiming they would have stuffed ballot boxes.

The assets at stake include a luxury New York apartment on Madison Avenue and a $2 million lawsuit for legal fees against former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee.

Liman decided that seizing the property would make it easier for election officials Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss to sell it. Giuliani had asked that the attempt to collect Trump’s legal fees be delayed until November 6 to avoid influencing the election by “inaccurate” claims and creating a “media frenzy,” a suggestion that Liman ridiculed .

“The deep irony reflected in the defendant’s alleged concern was not lost on the court,” Liman wrote. “By his own admission, defendant defamed plaintiffs by telling lies about them.”

Liman said the ownership of the former New York mayor’s World Series rings is being investigated separately after his son Andrew Giuliani claimed he received the rings in 2018.

Likewise, the status of Giuliani’s condominium in West Palm Beach, Florida, will be the subject of a hearing on October 28.

But the other possessions Giuliani must give up also include Yankees souvenirs like a picture of Reggie Jackson and a jersey signed by Joe DiMaggio, as well as a 1980 Mercedes previously owned by Lauren Bacall, jewelry and fancy watches from Bulova and Rolex.

Giuliani’s spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Giuliani’s attacks on Freeman and Moss came as the Trump campaign worked to overturn Biden’s victories in a half-dozen closely contested states. Giuliani was charged with election fraud and pleaded not guilty.

Giuliani accused election workers “under false pretenses” of excluding observers during vote counting, of introducing “suitcases” of illegal ballots, of counting the same ballots multiple times and of secretly passing around flash drives, the women’s lawsuit says .

At a meeting with Georgia lawmakers on December 10, 2020, Giuliani said Freeman and Moss were “obviously, secretly, passing around USB ports as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine.”

But Freeman and Moss testified at a U.S. House hearing that they passed on ginger mints.

To date, Giuliani has not paid anything against the civil judgment from December 2023, which accrues interest at 5% per year, Liman wrote.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal judge orders Rudy Giuliani to return property in civil case