CNN
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A federal judge on Tuesday ordered former Donald Trump lawyer and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to turn over all of his prized possessions and his Manhattan penthouse apartment to the control of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Georgia election officials he defamed and to whom he now owes $150 million.
Judge Lewis Liman of federal court in Manhattan said Giuliani must turn over his interest in the property to the women within seven days, to a receivership they would control. The court order to sell the luxury items is quick and easy, but control of the penthouse apartment is transferred, allowing Freeman and Moss to sell it, potentially for millions of dollars.
The women who counted ballots in Georgia after the 2020 election are also entitled to approximately $2 million in legal fees. Giuliani said the Trump campaign still owed him a debt, the judge ruled.
In addition to the Trump campaign fees and New York apartment, Giuliani must also turn over a collection of several watches, including ones given to him by European presidents after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; an autographed Joe DiMaggio jersey and other sports memorabilia; and a 1980 Mercedes that once belonged to Hollywood star Lauren Bacall. In addition, the judge ordered Giuliani to hand over his television, furniture and jewelry.
Liman has not yet decided whether Giuliani will be able to keep a condo in Palm Beach, Florida, which he also owns, or the four New York Yankees World Series rings he owns, which Giuliani's son was reportedly gifted by his father.
Michael Gottlieb, an attorney for Freeman and Moss, told CNN's Erin Burnett on “OutFront” that the judge's order was a “necessary and important step in our clients' ability to reclaim some of what was taken from them.”
“Today's verdict is, in my opinion, an example of how the justice system, even though it may take time and even though it requires determination and the courage of people like Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, will hold powerful people accountable for these cases “Types of injustice,” he said.
A day after receiving the judge's order, Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman railed against the justice system, saying in a statement that the former mayor is being “unfairly punished by partisan, political activity that seeks to make an example of him,” bullying and intimidate him.
Goodman said the signed Joe DiMaggio jersey was a personal gift from the baseball legend and that the 1980 Mercedes-Benz was Giuliani's only vehicle.
“They restricted his access to his personal bank accounts and his credit cards and locked him out of his business accounts in a failed attempt to destroy his highly successful two-hour livestream program on X and his other social media platforms,” Goodman's statement said . “Mayor Giuliani is confident that justice will prevail in the end and he will be fully vindicated, just as he has been in countless other situations.”
The judge said in his ruling Tuesday that he was using a receivership to facilitate the transfer of Giuliani's New York property to the women because the asset was unique. He pointed out that one of the advantages of using the legal mechanism is that “it is well suited to working with auction houses and brokers such as Sotheby's and Christie's to ensure that the maximum sales value (of a property) is achieved.”
The defamation case against Giuliani — and recent moves to enforce the ruling — are an example of how the lawyers who supported Trump's election subversion plans have faced the consequences for those actions, even as prosecutions against Trump and his allies have been slow went on to gain traction.
Listen to the list of Giuliani's assets that can now be seized as a result of the judge's decision
Giuliani, who previously served as a U.S. attorney in Manhattan, has also lost his law license for perpetuating false election claims, and other former Trump lawyers are facing professional disciplinary proceedings. Right-wing news outlets, including Fox News, were forced to settle lawsuits by a voting machine manufacturer and its former CEO that were the subject of other election conspiracy theories.
Last December, a federal jury ordered Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million for his lies about Freeman and Moss, and the couple has been working to collect the money ever since. He was ordered to pay $16,171,000 to Freeman for defamation, $16,998,000 to Moss for defamation, $20 million to each woman for emotional distress, and a total of $75 million in punitive damages.
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Giuliani was found liable for defamation against Freeman and Moss last year after he failed to respond to parts of their lawsuit. The mother and daughter argued in their case that they suffered emotional and reputational damage and their safety was compromised after Giuliani singled them out when he made false claims about election manipulation in Georgia, where they worked as poll workers during the election Election 2020.
The judge has scheduled a hearing on the property in Florida for next Monday.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN's Tierney Sneed, Devan Cole and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.
