Rudolph W. Giuliani has not shown up to federal court in Lower Manhattan to testify in a trial that will determine whether he can keep a Florida condo, his only remaining home, as well as three personalized Yankees World Series rings.
No reason has been given for his absence. The court has been adjourned until 1 p.m.
The judge in the case, Lewis J. Liman, is expected to rule on whether Mr. Giuliani must surrender his condo in Palm Beach, Fla., which he claims is his primary residence, to pay down a multimillion-dollar judgment. The apartment was valued at $3.5 million.
The case stems from a 2021 defamation suit in which a jury awarded two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, $148 million for damage to their reputations after Mr. Giuliani claimed, repeatedly and without evidence, that they had manipulated ballots. The women said they faced death threats and had to go into hiding.
Mr. Giuliani’s baseless claims about the workers have already cost him millions of dollars in assets, including his longtime Manhattan apartment, but he has been uncooperative in handing over much of the property..
The former New York mayor was expected to be the lead witness in court on Thursday, as his lawyer argues that he should be able to keep his Palm Beach condo. His son, Andrew Giuliani, is also expected to testify on Thursday that his father gave him the three World Series rings years ago and that therefore they should not be seized.
But three hours after the scheduled start of the trial, Mr. Giuliani had not shown up. After the trial was set to begin, a video of a dog named Vinny was posted on Mr. Giuliani’s X account.
“Vinny loves hanging out at Mar-a-Lago, but he’s ready to spend a lot more time in Washington, D.C. over the course of the next four years in support of his favorite President—Donald J. Trump!” the message said.
In October, Judge Liman ordered Mr. Giuliani to hand over most of his personal possessions — about $11 million worth of property, including a Manhattan apartment, a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible and a collection of rare Yankees memorabilia — to start paying down the judgment. After more than two months and several missed deadlines, many of the items have yet to be delivered.
In light of Mr. Giuliani’s obstructions, jail is a real possibility, said Stephen Gillers, a professor emeritus at New York University School of Law. But it is an extreme measure that the judge may not want to resort to, he said, perhaps because of the former mayor’s high public profile. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have not pressed for jail time, emphasizing instead their aim of collecting the judgment. Mr. Giuliani has been found in contempt in two different courts in connection with the defamation case.
“Rudy is on the streets today only because the judges have acted with self-restraint,” Mr. Gillers said.
Mr. Giuliani, 80, once a federal prosecutor for the same New York court district, has insisted that he has largely complied with the handover of his belongings and with requests for information about his finances, but has been overwhelmed with demands from a number of criminal and civil cases related to his time as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer.
He was disbarred from the practice of law in New York, where he was born and raised, and in Washington, D.C., last year for attempting to undermine the 2020 election results. He also faces criminal charges in two states and several other civil actions related to those efforts.
Mr. Giuliani enters the trial in Manhattan at a disadvantage. Judge Liman last week held him in contempt for failing to answer basic questions that might substantiate his claim that his Palm Beach condo is his primary residence and therefore exempt from seizure under Florida law. His failure to produce the documents will limit the defense he can muster.
The court also ruled on Tuesday that two witnesses who would vouch for Mr. Giuliani’s Florida residency — Ted Goodman, his spokesman, and Msgr. Alan Placa, a retired Catholic priest — would be barred, in part because they failed to provide documents to support their claims.
Monsignor Placa, whom Mr. Giuliani has called his closest friend, was accused of sexually abusing a teenager in the 1970s; a Vatican panel cleared him of the allegations in 2009.
The decision to limit the witnesses led to a heated exchange in court on Tuesday, when Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer for Mr. Giuliani, claimed that Monsignor Placa should be allowed to testify because of his faith.
“He answers to a higher power,” Mr. Cammarata said. “He answers to God, your honor.”
Judge Liman shot him a bewildered look before reminding him that everyone is equal under the law.
Mr. Giuliani has appealed the defamation case but faces long odds in trying to vacate the nine-figure judgment. Mr. Trump’s return to the White House does not offer the possibility of a presidential pardon for Mr. Giuliani; a president cannot intervene in civil cases.
Mr. Giuliani was also held in contempt in a Washington court last week for continuing to make defamatory comments about the two election workers. The judge in that case, Beryl A. Howell, said that any further violations could land him in jail.
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