Everything works out for ole Rudy.
The post Rudy Giuliani Embraces Contempt As A Lifestyle, And It Somehow Manages To Work Out For Him appeared first on Above the Law.
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Once you get locked into a serious collection of contempt findings, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.
That sentiment — borrowed from Hunter Thompson — developed into a mantra for former mayor Rudy Giuliani, and much like the famed author he seems to have gotten away with it, settling the case after forcing the court and opposing parties to wait around for hours.
Already held in contempt by two different courts — courtesy of SDNY Judge Lewis Liman and DC Judge Beryl Howell — Rudy decided to go all in this morning and completely skipped out on his in-person trial before Judge Liman.
Giuliani was due in court for a limited trial to determine if he could declare his Florida condo as his primary residence to avoid having to forfeit it to satisfy the $148 million he owed Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Atlanta poll workers he defamed by accusing them of stealing the election from Donald Trump in Georgia. Freeman and Moss were subsequently targeted by MAGALand crazies and Rudy took off to fart on lawyers around the country in a doomed effort to pretend the election didn’t happen.
Since losing the defamation action to Freeman and Moss, Rudy’s been on quite a journey, claiming to be bankrupt and declaring takebacksies on bankruptcy (takebankrupt-sies?). Amidst his misadventures in bankruptcy court, he listed his primary residence as his New York residence, which he’s since realized isn’t as advantageous as claiming Florida as his home and taking advantage of their generous laws shielding a primary residence from creditors. Today, Judge Liman was set to preside over a limited bench trial to determine if Rudy could pull this switch-in-time-to-save-what’s-mine.
But Rudy just never showed up.
In fact, while already nearly two hours late for the trial, Rudy publicly let it slip that he’s hanging out at Mar-a-Lago instead of showing up to court:
Around 1:30, Judge Liman announced that the trial would be postponed with Rudy still M-I-A — or M-A-L as the case may be — and set to reconvene on Tuesday.
Presumably with additional contempt hearings to follow in due course.
But then everything seems to have turned around for Rudy:
This account makes it seem like this was all a big misunderstanding and Rudy was at all times locked in serious settlement conversations with Freeman and Moss and they just all forgot to tell Judge Liman to delay the trial while they talked. Though this reading runs afoul of the fact that plaintiffs’ lawyers showed up on time this morning expecting to have a trial while Rudy took videos of his dog aiding and abetting contempt of court.
Indeed, the joint letter from the parties to Judge Liman announcing the agreement indicates that it wasn’t hammered out until after Liman postponed the trial to next Tuesday.
To be clear, this is an agreement in principle that the parties expect to reach “full satisfaction” before the end of February. That said, the parties had a long standing court date this morning that didn’t work out either so if you’re a gambler there’s even odds that we’re going to be right back here on February 25.
Earlier: Rudy Giuliani And His Lawyer Continue Their Courthouse Vaudeville Act
Rudy Guiliani’s Legal Strategy Is Performance Art
Giuliani Bumstumbles Into Contempt And Sanctions In Freeman/Moss Case
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
