Giuliani Settles Legal Battle With Poll Workers Over Assets (3)

Rudolph Giuliani will keep his two homes after settling a case to determine which of his possessions must be surrendered to election workers to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment against him.

Lawyers for Giuliani and the Georgia poll workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea’ Moss, announced the deal in court papers Thursday afternoon, after Giuliani failed to appear for scheduled testimony.

The settlement allows Giuliani to keep his Florida condo as well as his Manhattan home, according to his lawyer, Joseph Cammarata of Cammarata & DeMeyer PC. His son, Andrew, will be permitted to keep three World Series rings, which Giuliani said were a gift.

Freeman and Moss said in a statement that they would receive from Giuliani “compensation and his promise not to ever defame us.” They didn’t provide further specifics, but the filing said “certain conditions” had to be met under the settlement.

“Today is a major milestone in our journey,” they said. “We have reached an agreement and we can now move forward with our lives.”

The trial was set to kick off Thursday in front of Judge Lewis J. Liman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Freeman and Moss have spent months trying to collect on a defamation verdict they won against Giuliani in 2023 after he falsely accused the pair of attempting to rig 2020 election ballots in favor of Joe Biden.

Testimony was to begin at 9 a.m., with Giuliani scheduled to take the stand first. But at 11:30 a.m., with Giuliani nowhere to be seen in the Manhattan courtroom, Liman called lawyers involved into his chambers. He then recessed the trial until 1 p.m.

It wasn’t clear Thursday morning whether Giuliani was elsewhere in the courthouse.

Giuliani’s Palm Beach condo, previously valued at around $3.5 million, and the rings became a central part of legal case to satisfy Giuliani’s 2023 court loss.

Giuliani was previously ordered to turn over his Manhattan penthouse apartment, cash accounts, a collection of valuable watches, Yankees memorabilia, and other assets. He will now be permitted to keep all of his personal property, his lawyer said.

Giuliani has also said he gifted the rings to his son, Andrew. Attorneys for the election workers have said Giuliani never reported to the IRS any gift of the rings to his son, despite reporting other gifts to the IRS.

His son is also part of the settlement, according to Thursday’s court filing.

Giuliani earlier this week was denied last-ditch attempts to call on his close friends and associates to back him up at trial over whether he can keep his Palm Beach condominium. And earlier this month Giuliani was held in contempt for violating legal discovery requirements related to the condominium.

The poll workers are represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, DuBose Miller LLP, and United to Protect Democracy. Andrew Giuliani is represented by Lowenstein Sandler LLP.

The case is Freeman v. Giuliani, S.D.N.Y., No. 24-06563, hearing 1/16/25.