The judge presiding over the upcoming damages trial against Rudy Giuliani declared her intention on Friday to apprise the jury of the fact that the former legal representative for Donald Trump deliberately withheld financial documents and other information, thereby failing to comply with court orders.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled in a five-page document that the action was necessary due to Giuliani’s consistent and obvious refusal to comply with the Court’s August 30 Order. The order required Giuliani to provide financial records including information on his personal and business assets, in addition to other pertinent data.
This means that in order to ascertain the suitable remuneration for the two Georgia election workers who were defamed by Giuliani, the jurors would be directed to contemplate the most pessimistic hypotheses concerning his noncompliance with the court’s order to submit the necessary documents.
“The jury will be instructed that it must, when determining an appropriate sum of compensatory, presumed, and punitive damages, infer that defendant Giuliani was intentionally trying to hide relevant discovery about the Giuliani Businesses’ finances for the purpose of shielding his assets from discovery and artificially deflating his net worth,” the judge wrote.
Additionally, Giuliani and his lawyer will be prohibited “from making any argument, or introducing any evidence, stating or suggesting that he is insolvent, bankrupt, judgment proof, or otherwise unable to defend himself” since he failed to hand over evidence that would show that’s true, the judge wrote.
“The jury will be instructed that it must, when determining an appropriate sum of compensatory, presumed, and punitive damages, infer that defendant Giuliani was intentionally trying to hide relevant discovery about the Giuliani Businesses’ finances for the purpose of shielding his assets from discovery and artificially deflating his net worth,” the judge wrote.
The attorney and publicist representing Giuliani failed to provide a timely response to the requests for comment.
Giuliani was sued for defamation by Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, both of whom are Georgia election employees, and her daughter. The judge has rendered a finding against Giuliani for the second time in the past two months due to his consistent disregard for court orders and regulations.
Freeman and Moss were consistently and unjustly accused of election fraud in Fulton County by Giuliani, who did so in support of his client and then-President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of election rigging in 2020.
During the vote tally, Giuliani remarked that the two individuals were “handling USB ports as if they were vials containing cocaine or heroin.” A report published by a House committee on January 6 stated that they were in the process of adopting a ginger mint.
He also owes the IRS approximately $550,000 in delinquent taxes. As of last week, Giuliani “has a formal agreement with the IRS to pay off the liability,” according to Ted Goodman, a spokesman for the candidate.