Expand / Collapse search
☰
Airport Weather Warning
until FRI 3:00 PM MST, Southeast Valley/Queen Creek, North Phoenix/Glendale, Central Phoenix
9
Flood Watch
until FRI 10:00 PM MST, Dripping Springs, Southeast Gila County, Pinal/Superstition Mountains, San Carlos, Mazatzal Mountains, Tonto Basin, Superior, Globe/Miami
Flood Watch
until FRI 6:00 PM MST, Sonoran Desert Natl Monument, Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, Central Phoenix, Fountain Hills/East Mesa, South Mountain/Ahwatukee, Northwest Pinal County, Cave Creek/New River, West Pinal County, Southeast Valley/Queen Creek, East Valley, New River Mesa, Gila Bend, Aguila Valley, Northwest Valley, Tonopah Desert, Buckeye/Avondale, Scottsdale/Paradise Valley, Rio Verde/Salt River, North Phoenix/Glendale, Deer Valley
Flood Watch
from SAT 11:00 PM MST until MON 5:00 AM MST, North Phoenix/Glendale, Aguila Valley, Mazatzal Mountains, Tonopah Desert, Gila Bend, San Carlos, East Valley, Northwest Pinal County, Northwest Valley, Southeast Valley/Queen Creek, Globe/Miami, Deer Valley, Fountain Hills/East Mesa, Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, Buckeye/Avondale, Tonto Basin, Rio Verde/Salt River, South Mountain/Ahwatukee, Dripping Springs, Southeast Gila County, Pinal/Superstition Mountains, Scottsdale/Paradise Valley, New River Mesa, Sonoran Desert Natl Monument, West Pinal County, Superior, Cave Creek/New River, Central Phoenix, Northwest Plateau, Eastern Cochise County below 5000 ft including Douglas/Wilcox, Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys including Clifton/Safford, Southeast Pinal County including Kearny/Mammoth/Oracle, Western Pima County including Ajo/Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Dragoon/Mule/Huachuca and Santa Rita Mountains including Bisbee/Canelo Hills/Madera Canyon, Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail, Tohono O'odham Nation including Sells, Baboquivari Mountains including Kitt Peak, Upper San Pedro River Valley including Sierra Vista/Benson, Chiricahua Mountains including Chiricahua National Monument, Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains including Mount Graham, Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains including Mount Lemmon/Summerhaven, White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties including Hannagan Meadow, South Central Pinal County including Eloy/Picacho Peak State Park, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys including Nogales, Yavapai County Mountains, Little Colorado River Valley in Navajo County, Western Mogollon Rim, Coconino Plateau, Yavapai County Valleys and Basins, Oak Creek and Sycamore Canyons, Grand Canyon Country, Little Colorado River Valley in Coconino County, Marble and Glen Canyons, Northern Gila County, White Mountains, Kaibab Plateau, Eastern Mogollon Rim, Little Colorado River Valley in Apache County
Flood Watch
from SUN 12:00 AM MDT until MON 5:00 AM MST, Chinle Valley, Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, Northeast Plateaus and Mesas South of Hwy 264, Black Mesa Area, Northeast Plateaus and Mesas Hwy 264 Northward
Flood Watch
from FRI 10:00 AM MST until FRI 10:00 PM MST, Yavapai County Mountains, Oak Creek and Sycamore Canyons, Northern Gila County, Yavapai County Valleys and Basins
Flood Advisory
from FRI 2:05 PM MST until FRI 5:00 PM MST, Mohave County
Flood Advisory
from FRI 2:35 PM MST until FRI 5:30 PM MST, Mohave County
Special Weather Statement
until FRI 3:30 PM MST, Tonopah Desert, Aguila Valley

Giuliani's lawyers seek to exit defamation case citing disagreement

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
FOX 5 Atlanta
2020 Election
Published November 13, 2024 6:02 PM MST
Published November 13, 2024 6:02 PM MST
article

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani leaves the New York Federal Courthouse on November 7, 2024 in New York City. Giuliani appeared in a New York City courtroom after missing the deadline to turn over assets as part of $148m defamation judgement. (Pho

Expand

The Brief

    • Rudy Giuliani's attorneys filed a motion to withdraw from his $148-million defamation case due to a fundamental disagreement on litigation strategy and his lack of cooperation.
    • Giuliani is ordered by a judge to surrender assets, including a valuable apartment and a classic car, for his liability in defaming election workers Freeman and Moss.
    • Giuliani's alleged failure to transfer assets by the court-ordered deadline led to an extension, as Georgia election workers' lawyers claim his apartment was emptied prior to their visit.
    • Giuliani was found liable for defamation against election workers and is accused of causing them to receive death threats by making false allegations of ballot fraud.
    • The case is set for a forfeiture trial on Jan. 16, 2025, while Giuliani's lawyers seek exemption from serving a copy of their withdrawal motion to the plaintiffs.

NEW YORK - Attorneys representing Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and ally of former President Donald Trump, filed a motion Wednesday to withdraw from his defense in a high-profile $148-million defamation case in federal court. Giuliani faces a civil lawsuit from Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea' Moss, who allege Giuliani defamed them with false claims about the 2020 presidential election.

Kenneth Caruso, the lead counsel for Giuliani from Kenneth Caruso Law LLC, had filed the motion in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, citing several reasons for seeking withdrawal. The motion, filed also on behalf of co-counsel David Labkowski of Labkowski Law P.A., states that the attorneys can no longer continue the representation due to "a fundamental disagreement" with Giuliani on litigation strategy, as well as his failure to cooperate, which they say has made representation "unreasonably difficult."

The filing specifically references a New York Professional Rule which permits attorneys to withdraw when there is a fundamental disagreement with the client, an unwillingness by the client to present legally warranted arguments, or a lack of cooperation.

Judge Lewis J. Liman ordered Giuliani to hand over the assets last week, which include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, a shirt signed by New York Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio, dozens of luxury watches, and other valuables.

Lawyers for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, say Giuliani has mostly dodged turning over assets by an Oct. 29 deadline, alleging that they visited his Manhattan apartment and found it had been cleared out weeks earlier. The court subsequently extended the deadline to Nov. 15.

Giuliani was found liable for defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of ballot fraud as he pushed Trump’s unsubstantiated election fraud allegations during the 2020 campaign.

The women said they faced death threats after Giuliani accused the two of sneaking in ballots in suitcases, counting ballots multiple times, and tampering with voting machines.

A forfeiture trial was scheduled for Jan. 16, 2025, in the case.

Caruso and Labkowski's motion does not assert any claim for fees but requests an exemption from the requirement to serve the plaintiffs with a copy of the motion, given the sensitivity of the matter.

The court has yet to rule on the motion.

The Source: FOX 5 Atlanta is basing this story on documents filed by the attorneys for Rudy Giulianni filed in federal court on Wednesday. Previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting was also used and links can be found in the article to access those stories to provide better background of the case. This story is being reported out of Atlanta.

2020 ElectionNewsNew YorkNewsPolitics