Giuliani Lawyers Set to Exit $146 Million Defamation Suit (2)

Attorneys representing Rudolph Giuliani in federal court were given the go-ahead by a judge Tuesday to stop working on the former New York City mayor’s legal battle surrounding a $146 million defamation judgment.

Kenneth Caruso of Manhattan and David Labkowski of Miami didn’t provide the court with a solid legal reason for withdrawing from the case, Judge Lewis Liman of the US District Court for the Southern District said during a Tuesday hearing. Nevertheless, the judge granted their request because Giuliani already has hired new attorneys.

“Thank you. I’m sorry it came to this,” Caruso said to the judge just before he and Labkowski left the courtroom.

Caruso and Labkowski since September have represented Giuliani in a case that aims to force the former Donald Trump attorney to surrender his assets to satisfy a $146 million defamation judgment. Staten Island attorneys Joseph Cammarata and Suzanne De Meyer will now represent Giuliani in the case, which was brought by two Georgia poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea’ Moss, who won the judgment after Giuliani falsely accused the pair of tampering with 2020 presidential election ballots.

Liman denied Cammarata’s request to postpone a Jan. 16 trial scheduled related to Giuliani’s Palm Beach, Fla. condominium. Cammarata said he needs more time to “prepare a formidable case” for Giuliani, who also is planning to attend the inauguration proceedings for president-elect Trump on Jan. 20. There are other events taking place in the days leading up to the inauguration that Giuliani wants to attend.

Giuliani’s “social calendar doesn’t constitute good cause” for pushing back the trial date, Liman said. Giuliani has already missed and “hasn’t shown anything close to due diligence with regard to meeting” multiple deadlines during the case, the judge added.

The judge did offer to move the trial up to either Jan. 13 or 14, but Cammarata and Giuliani said they need to check their calendars.

Missed Deadlines

Moss and Freeman’s attorney, Aaron Nathan of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, said he and his team have been stymied from getting information they need for the upcoming trial and said if they don’t get additional information in time, they might need to depose Giuliani for a second time.

Nathan also called out Giuliani’s “refusal to comply with turnover orders,” including directives to provide the locations of certain assets.

“We’ve run out of patience,” Nathan said.

Cammarata pushed back, saying the discovery requests go beyond what’s needed for the trial and “sounds like a fishing expedition.” He added a second deposition would further burden Giuliani, who’s defending against numerous other cases outside of New York and doesn’t even have transportation now that he’s turned his car—a 1980 Mercedes-Benz once owned by Lauren Bacall—over to the plaintiffs. He also has limited access to cash and other accounts.

“Your client’s claims of poverty are not well-founded,” Liman said. The judge, in part, granted Nathan’s request to expedite discovery for documents and other information related to whether Giuliani or his son own three World Series rings that might be handed over to Freeman and Moss. Any other information must be provided within 14 days as required under federal rules of civil procedure.

Failure to comply with the deadlines, the judge said, could lead to a finding of contempt.

Liman offered a “word of advice or caution” to Cammarata toward the end of the nearly hour-and-a-half-long hearing: The attorney needs to show he and Giuliani are doing everything they can to comply with the court’s orders. That includes providing Freeman and Moss with the title to the Mercedes-Benz, not just the car itself.

Giuliani says he lost the title and has to request a new one from Florida.

If Giuliani doesn’t show he’s trying to comply, he “may be putting the court in a place it would rather not be in,” Liman said.

Giuliani lashed out at the judge. “Everything you’ve said is against me,” he said to Liman from his seat at the defense table. “The implication I haven’t been diligent is incorrect.”

The former mayor added that he’s not impoverished, but everything he owns is tied up by the plaintiffs. “I don’t have a car or credit card,” he said.” I can’t pay bills. It’s all tied up by them.”

Liman tried multiple times to speak over Giuliani. The judge eventually told Cammarata that Giuliani could either represent and choose to speak for himself or be represented by counsel, but he “can’t have both.”

“There should be no higher priority for your client than complying with the court’s orders,” Liman said to Cammarata.

Speaking to press after the hearing, Giuliani said he’s being punished “by a serious left-wing Democrat” judge for investigating the Biden family—and in particular President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Giuliani alleged that Liman already had his decision written down before the hearing started.

Giuliani said he doesn’t regret what he said about Freeman and Moss that led to the defamation suit. Rather, he regrets “the persecution I’ve been put through.”

Caruso and Labkowski filed separate motions Nov. 13 asking to withdraw from the lawsuit. Their request came just five days before Giuliani complied with the court’s order to turn over a Mercedes-Benz once owned by Lauren Bacall, various luxury watches, and non-exempt cash to partially satisfy the judgment.

The filings were largely redacted but Caruso cited professional rules that allow a lawyer to withdraw when a client insists on “taking action with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement” or “presenting a claim or defense that is not warranted under existing law and cannot be supported by good faith argument.”

The case is Freeman v. Giuliani, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:24-cv-06563, oral argument 11/26/24.