Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Washington, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. A jury awarded $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who sued Giuliani for defamation over lies he spread about them in 2020 that upended their lives with racist threats and harassment. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Two of the defense attorneys for Rudy Giuliani have asked a federal judge if they can quit representing the former New York City mayor as the two Georgia election workers he defamed attempt to collect on the $148 million judgment levied against him last year. The development comes as Giuliani had recently been seeking public donations, claiming he was unable to buy food after his checking account was seized.
Giuliani’s lead attorney, Kenneth Caruso, and co-counsel, David Labkowski, on Wednesday filed a motion to withdraw as Giuliani’s counsel, citing a professional conduct rule permitting the termination of representation under specific circumstances.
a lawyer may withdraw from representing a client when: … (4) the client insists upon taking action with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement; … (6) the client insists upon presenting a claim or defense that is not warranted under existing law and cannot be supported by good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law; [or] … (7) the client fails to cooperate in the representation or otherwise renders the representation unreasonably difficult for the lawyer to carry out employment effectively[.]
The attorneys’ move to drop Giuliani apparently came as a surprise to their client.
“Mayor Giuliani has not been informed by Mr. Caruso of this action. Surely Mr. Caruso would talk to the mayor, or at the very least inform him of such a decision,” Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesperson, said in a statement to The Hill.
Caruso and Labkowski initially sought to file the motion under seal. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman rejected the request, but allowed portions of the filing involving privileged information to be redacted.
While the details of what transpired between Giuliani and his attorneys are not currently known, Giuliani’s conduct in connection with the case has been eyebrow-raising, to say the least.
The former personal attorney for President-elect Donald Trump has dragged his feet in complying with court orders stemming from the massive defamation judgment levied against him for baselessly claiming Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss were involved in efforts to manipulate vote tallies in the 2020 presidential election.
When he finally turned over his multimillion dollar Manhattan apartment on Oct. 31, attorneys for Freeman and Moss said Giuliani had “secreted away” all of the valuable property inside that he was required to surrender.
“Save for some rugs, a dining room table, some stray pieces of small furniture and inexpensive wall art, and a handful of smaller items like dishes and stereo equipment, the Apartment has been emptied of all of its contents,” attorneys wrote in court filings earlier this month.
Giuliani on Nov. 5 also showed up to vote at a Florida polling station driving a classic Mercedes convertible once owned by actress Lauren Bacall which the court had ordered him to surrender to Moss and Freeman. Other assets Giuliani is required to turn over include 26 luxury watches and a swath of signed sports memorabilia.
Liman scolded Giuliani during an in-person hearing last week and pushed back against claims from his attorney that the plaintiffs were actively “vindictive” in seeking possession of a watch left to Giuliani by his grandfather.
“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” the Liman replied, adding that family heirlooms are used to settle court-ordered debts “every day.”
“If they owe a debt, they have to pay the debt,” Liman went on. “The law is the law. I don’t apply it differently to your client.”
Also on Wednesday, attorneys for Freeman and Moss filed a letter with the court claiming that Giuliani owes “nearly $100,000” to a storage facility on Long Island where they believe he “moved the majority of his belongings out of the New York Apartment.” The letter asks the judge to grant Freeman and Moss “ongoing access to all property” held in the storage facility. The letter also noted that attempts to communicate with Giuliani’s counsel about the matter had not received responses.
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