The lawyers who have been representing Rudy Giuliani are trying to quit his debt enforcement case because of disagreements with him, according to new court filings, as a Friday deadline nears for the former New York City mayor to turn over many of his most valuable possessions to two Georgia election workers to whom he owes nearly $150 million.
Specifics of what happened between Giuliani and his lawyers are redacted in the Wednesday court filings.
But Giuliani’s attorneys told a judge, according to the filings, that they must end their representation because of ethics rules that protect lawyers from working for clients with whom they have “a fundamental disagreement,” who are uncooperative or if they are asked to contradict the law.
Giuliani has fiercely but unsuccessfully tried to fight decisions in court that allow Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, whom he defamed by falsely claiming they tampered with votes in the 2020 election, to take control of his bank accounts, $6 million Manhattan apartment, collection of luxury watches, valuable gifts he received after the September 11, 2001, attacks and baseball memorabilia. The mother and daughter plan to sell off the possessions to satisfy some of the debt Giuliani owes them.
His primary attorney, Kenneth Caruso, had appeared to be following Giuliani’s direction – at times futilely – at a hearing last week in federal court in Manhattan where he unsuccessfully tried to keep ahold of prized possessions like a 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible and a watch from Giuliani’s grandfather.
At the hearing, Giuliani repeatedly whispered directions to Caruso, occasionally contradicting him, and the judge called some of their statements in court “farcical” and “ridiculous.”
The judge, Lewis Liman, has repeatedly warned that Giuliani and those helping him could face contempt sanctions if they don’t follow the court’s orders.
Giuliani spokesman Ted Goodman provided a statement responding to news coverage of the court filings, saying, “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.”
Also on Wednesday, Moss and Freeman’s attorneys alleged in court filings that a close contact of Giuliani owes nearly $100,000 to a moving and storage company on Long Island. Moss and Freeman’s attorneys have struggled in recent weeks to get access to Giuliani’s possessions in that storage facility, many of which were taken out of his Manhattan apartment in recent weeks and which the election workers are entitled to by court order.
Giuliani is required to deliver some of his possessions, including the keys and title of his classic car, his luxury watches, the furniture and sports memorabilia, to Moss and Freeman by Friday.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
