Georgia election workers seek control of Giuliani's assets to collect on $146M defamation judgment

Two Georgia election workers have asked a federal judge for control over Rudy Giuliani's assets to collect on the $146 million defamation judgment against him for baselessly claiming they engaged in election fraud in 2020.

The request from Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss comes just short of a month after the ex-New York City mayor's defunct bankruptcy, filed in the aftermath of the staggering judgment, was formally closed.

"Mr. Giuliani has spent years evading accountability for his actions — first in litigation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and then in chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that Mr. Giuliani commenced in this District," Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the mother-daughter duo, wrote in a Friday court filing. "Now that Mr. Giuliani’s bankruptcy case has been dismissed, Plaintiffs are finally in a position to receive a measure of compensation by enforcing their judgment."

Freeman and Moss asked the judge to order Giuliani to turn over personal property in his possession and to give the women the power to take possession of and sell any property he does not turn over. 

“Those remedies are overwhelmingly justified under New York law,” Nathan wrote. “And they are all the more appropriate in the context of this case, where Mr. Giuliani has proven time and again that he will never voluntarily comply with court orders, much less voluntarily satisfy Plaintiffs’ judgment.”

After a trial in December, a jury ordered Giuliani to pay Freeman and Moss more than $148 million, though after attorneys fees and other adjustments, the judgment was formally entered just under $146 million. 

The election workers testified to their lives being turned upside down by a torrent of racist and violent threats after Giuliani, the ex-personal lawyer of former President Trump, baselessly claimed they committed widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. 

Giuliani froze the judgment, and other pending lawsuits against him, by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But the judge’s dismissal of that case enabled the two election workers to collect on the judgment — even though they are likely to recover far less than $146 million, given Giuliani disclosed only $10.6 million in assets to the bankruptcy court. 

The majority of the judgment is expected to be paid by selling his New York apartment or Florida condo, which make up the bulk of his assets. However, the election workers also asked the judge to hand over control of personal property with value, such as Giuliani's Mercedes-Benz, sports memorabilia and more than 20 watches.

Nathan asked the court to direct Giuliani to respond to the motion within seven days, after which the court should “immediately” act on the election workers' requests.