Dem
47
GOP
53
Federal Judge Lewis Liman has had enough of Rudy Giuliani's antics in court, stalling, and refusal to obey his orders, and yesterday formally declared Giuliani to be in contempt of court. He hasn't specified the punishment yet. Giuliani will be back in Liman's courtroom on Jan. 16 for a hearing that will determine whether his condo in Palm Beach, FL, is his actual residence, and thus protected from seizure by the Florida Homestead Act, or just another property he owns, and is not protected from seizure. Liman said Giuliani "willfully violated a clear and unambiguous order of this court" when he refused to hand over documents the judge had asked for. When a judge says that, it is not a good sign for the defendant.
For yesterday's hearing, Giuliani appeared on Zoom using an American flag background. The judge didn't fall for it and told him to replace it with a plain background. Giuliani also said he didn't produce the evidence the judge wanted because he is a defendant in so many criminal and civil cases. You know, with so many judges demanding so much stuff, it is hard to satisfy all of them. The judge wasn't buying any of it.
Giuliani has sort of complied a little bit, but not really. For example, he turned over the keys to his Manhattan condo and his Mercedes-Benz, but he hasn't turned over the ownership papers, so the two Georgia election workers he defamed cannot yet sell or auction them. He also had all of the condo's contents removed and stored at an undisclosed location, in violation of the judge's orders.
The lawyers for the two women are quite clever. To determine if Guiliani's residence is in Manhattan or Florida, they asked for a list of all the doctors he has used in the past 4 years. Guiliani is 80 and has probably seen at least one doctor for something in the past 4 years, if only for a checkup. If it turns out that all his doctors practice in New York, that is strong evidence that he lives in New York. Giuliani has refused to produce the list. The show will continue on Jan. 16. (V)