Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Court Orders Giuliani to Surrender Assets
When a lawyer takes a case for a multi-millionaire, win or lose, that lawyer is going to make some money. That is true unless the rich man in question is Donald Trump. He has a habit of impoverishing everyone he taps for legal services. In the case of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, he pressed the lies of the former president about two election workers in Georgia to such a degree that a federal court found him liable for defaming them. He claimed they had committed electoral fraud, and he was not only wrong but he was wrong loudly and publicly. And he knew it. So, yesterday a federal court gave him 7 days to hand over his valuable assets, including his Manhattan penthouse apartment.
Unlike most of the USA, this journal has never been impressed with Mr. Giuliani. He was US Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1983 to 1989, and in that time, he failed miserably to jail John Gotti, the Teflon Don. As mayor, he was told to put the emergency management headquarters under ground in Brooklyn for security. He refused an put it on the seventh floor of one of the World Trade Center buildings. So on the day he made his reputation, he was reaping the whirlwind of his folly. Today, that center is in Brooklyn, underground. He was always an empty suit.
Thanks to his defamation of these two election workers, he has to pay them $148 million. The assets that the court has demanded he turn over amount to just $6.5 million. He had tried to shield himself with the bankruptcy protections in US law. That did not pan out.
National Public Radio reported, "After the $148 million verdict, Giuliani filed for bankruptcy, which froze attempts by Freeman and Moss to collect the award. But a judge in July threw out the case citing repeated 'uncooperative conduct,' including a failure to comply with court orders and disclose sources of income."
His lawyers have complained that the assets should not be handed over until his appeal is complete. "Stay tuned," the lawyers, Kenneth Caruso and David Labkowski, wrote in an email to the New York Times. "When the judgment is reversed in the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., these plaintiffs will be required to return all this property to Mr. Giuliani."
Unfortunately for Mr. Giuliani and his boastful legal team, the paper also noted, "But unless Mr. Giuliani’s appeal results in the judgment being vacated or reduced to less than $10 million -- which is what his assets are worth -- it is not likely that Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss would have to return anything."
In the event Mr. Giuliani fails to comply with this order, he faces contempt of court charges which would result in fines and jail time if the judge is in the mood.
There is more legal grief up ahead for the failed mayor. The NYT also stated, "Mr. Giuliani faces a January trial in Manhattan over whether he can claim that the Florida condo is his primary residence and therefore not eligible to be seized by his creditors under Florida law. But lawyers for Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss say that is not enough under Florida law to establish primary residency. Judge Liman, who was appointed by Mr. Trump, said Mr. Giuliani was not allowed to do anything that would downgrade the value of the Palm Beach condo in the meantime."
He could have avoided all of this if he had simply done those things that his legal training and experience required of him. Not lying is chief among them, but with Mr. Trump as a client, it was either lie or lose the client. Mr. Giuliani could have been free of all this had he been able to stand up to Mr. Trump. He should know that even as a disbarred lawyer.
© Copyright 2024 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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