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It’s always dangerous to wonder what Rudy Giuliani is thinking, if anything. But not as dangerous as the game he’s playing in the defamation case brought against him by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud.
This latest legal peril for the former tough-on-crime prosecutor comes via a claim that he’s failing to comply with a court order. You could be wondering: Didn’t Giuliani just get called out for not complying with court directives? Yes, yes he did.
You could be wondering: Didn’t Giuliani just get called out for not complying with court directives? Yes, yes he did.
That call-out came in a scathing Aug. 30 opinion by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, in which Giuliani’s noncompliance with discovery obligations led the judge to enter what’s known as a “default judgment” against him. That made Giuliani automatically liable for defamation, with the question of damages to be settled in a trial slated for December. (In July, Giuliani conceded that he had made “false” statements about Moss and Freeman.)
But in their Thursday filing, Freeman and Moss told Howell that Giuliani had failed to comply with her August order. Among other things, they claimed he had not handed over necessary financial documents or reimbursed them for attorneys fees as required. In their notice to Howell, they said they’re “considering what further relief may be appropriate and will file a request, if any, no later than September 29, 2023, unless the Court directs otherwise.” (An attorney and a spokesperson for Giuliani did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment Thursday night.)
Of course, this is just the latest bad news for the former Donald Trump lawyer, who’s also indicted in Georgia along with his former boss (both have pleaded not guilty). It also comes on the heels of a lawsuit claiming he owes more than $1.3 million in unpaid legal fees in connection with his various criminal and civil entanglements, an amount he called excessive.
So I’ll pose that risky question again: What is Giuliani thinking?
Ultimately, as we may soon find out, the answer may matter less than what’s on the judge’s mind.