This story was updated on Thursday, November 14, 2024 at 8:06 p.m
Two lawyers say they can no longer represent Rudy Giuliani in a property dispute. He was ordered to turn over two former Georgia election officials to satisfy part of a $148 million defamation judgment against him. They asked a judge to remove them from the case, citing disagreements with the former New York mayor.
The federal court filing comes a week after a judge ordered Giuliani to turn over a Mercedes once owned by actress Lauren Bacall, an heirloom watch and other valuable assets by Friday to two former Georgia poll workers who sued him over his comments about it He fought to overturn President-elect Donald Trump's 2020 election loss.
The women were given the verdict last year. Giuliani then filed for bankruptcy, but a judge overturned after finding that the ex-mayor had disregarded the procedure. Lawyers for campaign officials Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss say Giuliani has avoided turning over his assets.
In a motion filed late Wednesday, attorney Kenneth Caruso requested permission for himself and his co-counsel David Labkowski to no longer represent Giuliani.
Caruso wrote that lawyers can withdraw from representing their clients if there is a “fundamental disagreement” or if a client insists on asserting a claim that is not legally justified and cannot be supported by a good faith argument , or if the client fails to cooperate.
Several paragraphs of the publicly released file are blacked out. The redacted version does not provide details about potential issues.
A representative for Giuliani did not immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.
Giuliani has until Monday to object to the request.
The massive defamation verdict stems from Giuliani's role in pushing Trump's baseless claims that the election was stolen from him. Those efforts also led to pending criminal charges against Giuliani in Georgia and Arizona.
The former mayor and longtime Trump ally expressed defiance over collection efforts that went beyond the Oct. 29 deadline. Last week he told reporters in court that he was the victim of a “political vendetta.” On Election Day, Giuliani was seen driving near a polling station in Palm Beach, Florida, in a Mercedes that appeared to be the car he was supposed to drop off.
Giuliani, who has since been disbarred in New York and Washington, falsely accused Freeman and Moss of voter fraud, saying they smuggled ballots in suitcases, counted ballots multiple times and manipulated voting machines.
