Giuliani sued over luxury condo by Georgia election workers who won $148 million judgment

[August 31, 2024]  By Jonathan Stempel
 
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million judgment against Rudolph Giuliani filed a civil lawsuit against the onetime personal lawyer to Donald Trump, accusing him of trying to put his Florida luxury condominium beyond their reach.  

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani departs the U.S. District Courthouse after he was ordered to pay $148 million in his defamation case in Washington, U.S., December 15, 2023. REUTERS/Bonnie Cash/File Photo

In a complaint on Friday, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea' "Shaye" Moss challenged Giuliani's July 13 declaration that the Palm Beach condominium was his new primary residence.

They called it a "brazen" attempt by the former New York City mayor to benefit from a Florida law shielding a person's "homestead" from court judgments.

Giuliani made the declaration one day after a federal judge dismissed his bankruptcy case, which had protected him from the $148 million judgment.

Citing statements on his daily internet broadcasts, Freeman and Moss said Giuliani has since lived mainly or entirely elsewhere, and is only pretending to live in Florida to evade accountability for his actions.

"He is trying to 'toy with' Florida's homestead exemption to shield a multi-million dollar asset from his creditors," they said in their complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

Freeman and Moss want court permission to enforce an Aug. 8 lien against Giuliani's condominium and, if they choose, seize and sell the property. Giuliani also has a home in Manhattan.

"The appeal of the objectively unreasonable $148 million verdict hasn't even been heard, yet opposing counsel continues to take steps designed to harass and intimidate the mayor," Giuliani's spokesman Ted Goodman said in an email.

"This lawsuit has always been designed to censor and bully the mayor, and to deter others from exercising their right to speak up and to speak out," Goodman added.

Last December, a Washington jury ordered Giuliani to pay the $148 million to Freeman and Moss, who said he defamed them and destroyed their reputation through lies that they tried to help steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election from Trump.

Giuliani, 80, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the following week. The federal judge overseeing that case dismissed it after finding that Giuliani failed to provide a complete picture of his finances and to meet court deadlines.

That dismissal, which Giuliani also sought, eliminated the possibility a trustee could take over his finances and freed him to appeal the $148 million judgment, but also removed legal protections from creditors like Freeman and Moss.

The case is Freeman et al v. Giuliani, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-06563.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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