Giuliani has been under pressure to pay $148m in fines to Georgia election officials who he says was corrupt.
A judge in the United States has found Rudy Giuliani, who is an ally of President-elect Donald Trump, in contempt of court for failing to fully respond to a request for his assets.
Monday was the second day of Giuliani's contempt hearing, and US District Judge Lewis J Liman ruled that he had “willfully violated a clear and undisputed order of this court”.
It was the latest chapter in an ongoing trial that has seen Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, guilty by discrediting many of the claims made after the 2020 election.
In December 2023, a judge in Washington, DC, confirmed that Giuliani they have to pay $73m in compensation and $75m in punitive damages to two elected officials who accused him of vote tampering.
Giuliani repeated Trump's absurd claim that his defeat in 2020 was due to widespread election fraud.
According to the attorneys, Giuliani's claims resulted in the two employees, mother Ruby Freeman and daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, being repeatedly harassed and threatened with death.
On Monday, Judge Liman said Giuliani “missed” the Dec. 20 deadline to disclose information about his Palm Beach, Florida, condo that could be used as assets to pay the fines.
Attorneys for Moss and Freeman also accused Giuliani of ignoring their requests for information as they tried to recover the money they borrowed.
For example, they said that Giuliani did give a Mercedes-Benz car to the government officials, and a New York housebut that he failed to provide the necessary documents to get money.
He also said Giuliani did not hand over sports memorabilia, watches and money from his “cash account” that could be used to pay the multimillion-dollar fine.
Monday's decision focused on the Palm Beach condo, which Giuliani says is his primary residence, in an effort to protect it from foreclosure.
But Aaron Nathan, a lawyer for the women's campaigners, criticized Giuliani for refusing to provide documents that would show Palm Beach was not his permanent home – thereby making it another source of income.
However, Giuliani's lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, said that time was too short to provide all the necessary information – although he confirmed that Giuliani had tried.
“There's been a lot of compliance,” Cammarata said. “There is no contempt of court.”
Giuliani himself admitted that he was reluctant to provide other documents, fearing that the requests were too big or a legal “trap”.
He also mentioned about a heavy tree which is provided by the many cases they face.
In Georgiafor example, Giuliani is part of the suspended but still ongoing prosecution, accusing Trump and his allies of leading a terrorist group to sabotage the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, in ArizonaThe former mayor is part of another case, which is also for spreading false news during the elections.
Giuliani, 80, estimated that the demands of the race made it “impossible to work legally” a third of the time. He said that he did not “willfully ignore” the rulings of any court.
But Judge Liman seemed to dispute the fact that Giuliani was simply burdened.
“The fact that he's a busy man who used to depend on others is no reason to be disobedient,” Liman said.