Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani talks to reporters as he leaves after his defamation trial in Washington, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023 (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana).
A federal judge in New York refused to allow Rudy Giuliani to hide a list of witnesses he plans to call at next month’s trial over whether he will have to turn over his multimillion dollar Florida condominium to the two Georgia election workers he defamed to the tune of $148 million.
U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman said on Monday that Giuliani filed his witness list under seal on Dec. 23, despite the fact that the court had “neither directed nor permitted this list to be filed under seal.” The judge then ordered the clerk of the court to unseal the document on the court’s public docket.
The failure to abide by the court’s processes and procedures in the latest in a long line of mishaps on Giuliani’s end in the contentious litigation over how he is going to pay the massive debt he owes to Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss.
The witness list filing — which includes a retired priest who played a pivotal role in the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal in New York — stems from litigation regarding the fate of Giuliani’s multimillion-dollar Florida condominium, which earlier this year he claimed was his permanent residence, making it eligible for homestead protection under state law and thereby exempting the Palm Beach property from debt collection proceedings.
Attorneys for the Georgia election workers have pushed back on that claim, alleging in court documents that Giuliani treated the Florida condo as a vacation home, not a permanent residence. The duo have been alleging that Giuliani is refusing to answer certain questions required in the discovery process because truthful answers would show he has not been honest about the Florida property.
The issue of Giuliani’s permanent residence will be central to the Jan. 16, 2025, trial between the parties.
Giuliani’s witness list for trial states that he plans to testify under oath for about one hour regarding his “relocation from his New York City Cooperative Apartment to his Palm Beach County, Florida condominium as his homestead property.”
Giuliani also informed the court that he plans to call five additional witnesses who will take the stand for about 30 minutes each. The witnesses include Maria Ryan, Monsignor Alan Placa, Ryan Medrano, and Michael Ragusa, all of whom are slated to discuss Giuliani’s relocation from Manhattan to Florida prior to Dec. 31, 2023.
Ryan, Giuliani’s longtime rumored girlfriend, used to co-host his now-cancelled WABC radio show and has collaborated with the former mayor on other ventures, such as his recent foray into selling his own brand of coffee.
Now retired, Placa and Giuliani have been friends since they were children. Prior to working as a “senior vice president” in Giuliani’s consulting firm, Placa was a high-ranking adviser in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York. Though not mentioned by name, Placa is “Priest F” in the bombshell 2003 grand jury report on sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests on Long Island, according to a report from The New York Times.
Per the Times, the grand jury report portrays Placa as “central figure in a conspiracy of decades,” who allegedly moved sexually abusive priests to multiple parishes and tricked abuse victims into backing out of legal actions or remaining silent altogether. He was also reportedly accused of making “feeble attempts” to grope an alter server more than 50 years ago.
The Diocese of Rockville Centre earlier this year filed for bankruptcy after reaching a settlement with hundreds of abuse victims for $323 million.
Medrano and Ragusa have both worked for Giuliani, with Medrano being the former mayor’s “bookkeeper,” who “possesses extensive knowledge regarding Giuliani’s business and finances, according to a report from The Independent. Ragusa is one of Giuliani’s spokespersons.
A final witness, Theodore Goodman, may be called “if the need arises” to testify about “photographs that had been taken showing [Giuliani].” Goodman has also acted as a spokesperson for Giuliani.
Liman ordering Giuliani’s filing to be unsealed comes just days after the judge indicated he may hold Giuliani in contempt and sanction him for refusing to abide by court orders.
In the brief four-page order filed Friday, Liman emphasized that Giuliani had repeatedly missed filing deadlines and flouted court orders regarding specific information being sought by the election workers during pretrial discovery. Liman further indicated that the court had made a decision regarding multiple requests from the plaintiffs that Giuliani be held in contempt.
“The law imposes consequences on parties who disregard their obligations,” Liman wrote.
A hearing regarding whether Giuliani will be held in contempt is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2025.
