Giuliani's lawyers seek to quit defamation case
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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani leaves the New York Federal Courthouse on Nov. 7 in NYC. Photo: Alex Kent/Getty Images
Rudy Giuliani's attorneys filed a motion to withdraw from his defense on Wednesday in his damages case involving two Georgia election workers he defamed. Giuliani's spokesperson told Axios they did not inform him of the action.
Why it matters: The filing from attorney Kenneth Caruso, on behalf of himself and co-counsel David Labkowski, comes the day before a deadline the case judge set for President-elect Trump's former lawyer to turn over assets to the election workers or face possible sanctions that could include contempt of court.
- Former New York City Mayor Giuliani missed previous deadlines to turn over property that includes a Manhattan penthouse, a shirt signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio and a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall.
- Hours before the lawyers' motion, attorneys for Fulton County poll workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss alleged in a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan that Giuliani and associates may have moved some assets due for transfer "possibly without informing his own counsel."
Driving the news: Caruso said in the filing that New York provisions allowing withdrawal can occur when a client "insists upon taking action with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement."
- Other instances meeting this criteria include when a client "fails to cooperate in the representation or otherwise renders the representation unreasonably difficult for the lawyer to carry out employment effectively," Caruso wrote.
What they're saying: "The mayor has not been informed by either Mr. Caruso or Mr. Labkowski of this action," Ted Goodman said in an emailed statement late Wednesday. "Surely they'd talk to him, or at the very least inform him, of such a decision."
- Representatives for the attorneys did not respond to Axios' request for comment in the evening.
Context: Freeman and Moss accused Giuliani in a December 2021 lawsuit of making repeated false claims that they committed ballot fraud in Georgia so President Biden would win.
- In August 2023, a judge ruled Giuliani was liable for defamation, civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress caused to the mother and daughter. A jury in December ordered him to pay $148 million in damages to poll workers.
- Guiliani sought bankruptcy protection, but a federal judge in N.Y. dismissed the case in July.
