Georgia Poll Workers Defamed by Giuliani Receive Some of His Assets

Politics|Georgia Poll Workers Defamed by Giuliani Receive Some of His Assets

• Nov. 15, 2024, 7:23 p.m. ET

Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the two Georgia poll workers defamed by Rudolph W. Giuliani after the 2020 election, received his watch collection, a ring and his vintage Mercedes-Benz on Friday.

The deliveries, which Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, reported to the court on Friday, were a long time coming for the women, who are mother and daughter. It was also a small down payment on what the former New York City mayor owes them.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Mr. Giuliani spread lies about the women, asserting without evidence that they tried to steal the election from former President Donald J. Trump. At the time, Mr. Giuliani was working as Mr. Trump’s personal attorney and was helping to lead the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

Mr. Giuliani’s false statements about the women led to a torrent of threats and harassment, upending the women’s lives and sending them into hiding.

Mr. Giuliani, who has about $11 million in assets, has taken nearly a year to get to this point. He filed for bankruptcy after a federal jury returned with a $148 million defamation judgment last December. But his bankruptcy case was dismissed about eight months later because he refused to cooperate with basic court orders.

Last month, Judge Lewis J. Liman of Federal District Court in Manhattan ordered Mr. Giuliani to hand over his car, his Madison Avenue apartment and his valuable collection of jewelry and sports memorabilia within seven days to a receivership controlled by Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss. That would enable them to start selling those items, the proceeds of which would serve as partial payment of the $148 million judgment against Mr. Giuliani.

Mr. Giuliani missed that deadline and subsequent others.

Earlier this week, Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers asked the judge for permission to withdraw as his counsel, citing ethical concerns. This threw into question, once again, when Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss would receive the assets, the bulk of which come from his apartment in New York and his condo in Florida.

Mr. Trump owes Mr. Giuliani about $2 million in unpaid legal fees. Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss are looking to collect that as well.

A trial set for January in New York is to determine whether Mr. Giuliani can claim his $3.5 million Palm Beach condo as his primary residence, which, under Florida law, would keep it from being seized by Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss.

In the letter to the court on Friday, Mr. Cammarata requested a delay for the trial so that his client could attend President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

“There would be no harm to the plaintiffs by a delay of a few days in the trial schedule,” Mr. Cammarata wrote.