NEW YORK (AP) – Rudy Giuliani on Friday awarded a $148 million libel judgment to two former Georgia election officials who won a $148 million judgment for defamation, including a number once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall. His lawyer announced that he had transferred his watch and Mercedes.
Joseph Cammarata said in a letter filed late Friday in Manhattan federal court that a large quantity of watches and rings were delivered by FedEx to a bank in Atlanta, Georgia, in the morning.
The 1980 Mercedes-Benz SL 500 was delivered to an address in Hialeah, Florida, and undisclosed funds from Mr. Giuliani’s Citibank account were also delivered to the two women who won the judgment, the letter said.
But Mr Cammarata argued that forcing Mr Giuliani to sell the luxury car was “totally inappropriate” and that the car should have been appraised first.
In his letter, he argued that if the Mercedes was found to be worth less than $5,500, it should be exempt from judgment under the law.
If it’s found to be worth more than that, it would be auctioned off, with a portion of the proceeds going to two women: Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shay” Moss.
“This is how proper enforcement of these assets should work,” Cammarata wrote in bold. “Simply ordering the vehicles to be delivered to the plaintiffs without conducting any appraisals deprived the defendants of their legal and constitutional rights.”
The letter also argues that some of Mr. Giuliani’s other properties should also be exempt from judgment under New York and Florida law.
This includes all clothing, including a shirt autographed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, which was part of the verdict, as well as refrigerators, radio receivers, televisions, computers, cell phones, dishes, and cooking utensils. This includes all household furniture, the letter states. .
Cammarata pointed out that there is also a legal exemption for jewelry valued at less than $1,325. That means his watch and other items will also need to be appraised. It also said there would be exemptions for “tools of the trade” such as “professional musical instruments, furniture and libraries”. The amount does not exceed $4,075.
It was not immediately clear what else Mr. Giuliani gave up to meet Friday’s deadline.
The former mayor’s $5 million Upper East Side apartment is home to 26 watches, his 1980 Mercedes-Benz SL 500, and an autographed DiMarzio shirt, among other big-ticket items listed in the ruling. It was one.
Other representatives for Mr. Cammarata and Mr. Giuliani did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the two women, declined to comment.
On Thursday night, Giuliani’s spokesman Ted Goodman posted a video on social platform X from a FedEx store in Florida in which at least 18 watches and rings on a table are turned over. I showed him what was going on.
“This, folks, is the culmination of 60 years of hard work,” Goodman said as he watched a video of a series of watches with black, brown, gold and silver bands. “Many of these watches have great sentimental value and he is forced by court order to surrender them all.”
He added: “What is happening is wrong. It is shameful and we must restore the integrity of our justice system.”
In a letter Friday, Cammarata asked that Giuliani’s January trial over the disposition of some of his assets be postponed so he can attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
He also confirmed this week that he had become Mr. Giuliani’s new lawyer after his previous lawyers asked a court for permission to stop representing Mr. Giuliani, citing disagreements with him.
Giuliani claimed he was the victim of “political vendetta” and expected to win his appeal and get all his assets back.
“This is a case of political persecution,” he said after appearing in Manhattan federal court last week. “There is no one who does not know that this judgment is strange.”
Representatives for Mr. Freeman and Mr. Moss said they visited Mr. Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment last week and found that the vacant lot had been cleared well before the October deadline.
Mr. Giuliani was charged with defamation for promoting Mr. Trump’s baseless allegations of election fraud during the 2020 campaign and falsely accusing Mr. Freeman and Mr. Moss of voter fraud.
The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani accused them of sneaking ballots into suitcases, counting them multiple times and tampering with voting machines.
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Follow Phillip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
