Judge finds Rudy Giuliani in contempt for failed responses in $148 million defamation judgment case

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in New York City on Monday said that Rudy Giuliani was in contempt of court for failing to properly respond to requests for information as he turned over assets to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment granted to two Georgia election workers.

Judge Lewis J. Liman ruled after hearing Giuliani testify for a second day at a contempt hearing called after lawyers for the election workers said the former New York City mayor had failed to properly comply with evidence production requests over the last few months.

On Friday, Giuliani testified for about three hours in Liman’s Manhattan courtroom, but the judge permitted him to finish testifying remotely on Monday from his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida.

At the start of the hearing Monday, Giuliani had an American flag backdrop, which he said he uses for a program he conducts over the internet, but the judge told him to change it to a plain background.

Giuliani conceded during Monday’s testimony that he sometimes did not turn over everything requested because he believed the requests were overly broad or inappropriate or even a “trap” set by lawyers for the plaintiffs.

He also said he sometimes had trouble turning over information regarding his assets because of numerous criminal and civil court cases requiring him to produce factual information.

Giuliani, 80, said the demands to turn over materials made it “impossible to function in an official way” about 30% to 40% of the time.

Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press