Rudy Giuliani Is Held in Contempt of Court in Defamation Case

A federal judge on Monday held Rudolph W. Giuliani in contempt of court for failing to cooperate in the handover of $11 million of his personal assets to Georgia poll workers he falsely accused of helping to steal the 2020 presidential election.

Mr. Giuliani, 80, the former mayor of New York City, has so far failed to turn over the bulk of his personal assets as a down payment on the $148 million judgment the poll workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, won in a defamation lawsuit.

The judge, Lewis J. Liman of U.S. District Court in Manhattan, has yet to detail what specific sanctions Mr. Giuliani faces. But being held in contempt could possibly hinder the former mayor’s attempts to hang onto his Palm Beach, Fla., condo, which has been valued at $3.5 million.

Mr. Giuliani’s assets include a 10-room apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible; a collection of 26 designer watches; and rare Yankees collectibles, the most valuable of which might be a signed and framed Joe DiMaggio jersey. (The jersey is missing.)

He is due back in federal court in Manhattan on Jan. 16 for a civil trial in which he is expected to argue that his Palm Beach condo should be exempt from the seizure under Florida law, because it is his primary residence. But Mr. Giuliani has failed repeatedly to answer questions that could prove his residency.

The court ruled that Mr. Giuliani had obstructed the election workers’ attempts to determine Mr. Giuliani’s real primary residence, which for years had been the cooperative apartment on East 66th Street in Manhattan.