‘Civil equivalent of a death penalty’: Rudy Giuliani must pay defamed election workers $148 million, jurors find in unanimous decision

Former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani at the funeral service for NYPD police officer Wilbert Mora at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on February 2, 2022 in Midtown Manhattan, New York City (zz/NDZ/STAR MAX/IPx 2022 2/2/22).

Rudy Giuliani will not testify about his own conduct at a hearing where a judge will decide whether to hold him in contempt and impose sanctions for his repeated flouting of court orders as the Georgia election workers he defamed litigate the collection of their $148 million judgment awarded in their favor.

The former New York City mayor on Thursday asked the court to let him appear virtually rather than in person at the Manhattan federal courthouse for Friday’s hearing due to “medical issues” and conceded that, should the request be granted, he would be not be providing testimony.