Former New York mayor and attorney to former U.S. President, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani has been hit with a punitive order by a US federal judge due to his “continued and flagrant disregard” of court demands. The move on Friday pertains directly to Giuliani’s non-compliance with an order dated August 30th, a ruling he encountered following a conviction for the defamation of two Georgia election workers in the 2020 election cycle, where he propagated false claims of electoral fraud involving these individuals. Reports highlighted that the election workers were ultimately exonerated from allegations of fraud.
The August order had laid out specific instructions for Giuliani to provide additional evidence related to his financial standing and his metrics from social media viewership and financing. This was meant to aid the jury in assessing whether Giuliani financially benefitted from the defamation incident, and to consequently determine appropriate damages.
Following subsequent disregard of these requirements, Judge Beryl Howell issued the new order according to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2)(A), which authorizes the court to accept the opposing party’s unresponded-to allegations as established facts, and bars the non-compliant party from refuting these facts or introducing counter-evidence.
Now, the jury must operate under the assumption that Giuliani willfully concealed relevant details, implying that he likely benefitted significantly from his actions. In accordance with this mandate, the jury is expected to consider the plaintiffs’ claim that Giuliani profited substantially from the defamation as factual. They will make this judgment without considering Giuliani’s financial capacity to pay the damages. The order restricts Giuliani and his legal team from making any claims to the contrary, such as asserting that Giuliani did not profit from the act or is financially incapable of compensating the affected parties.
In a slightly favorable turn for Giuliani, the judge decided to delay the plaintiff’s request for legal fee payments. He opined that it would be more prudent to finalize a single combinatory amount instead of conducting multiple separate rulings.
It is worth noting that Giuliani is no stranger to financial disputes in legal cases, having been sued in September by his previous legal counsel for failing to pay nearly $1.4 million in fees. You can read more about this claim here.