A federal judge on Friday found Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for his continued defamation of two former Georgia election workers, just days after a different federal judge held him in contempt for failing to turn over his assets to them as ordered.
In a courtroom in Washington, D.C., U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell excoriated Giuliani for continuing to defame Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, saying he violated a permanent injunction that he agreed to in May “in at least six ways.”
In November, attorneys for Freeman and Moss asked Howell to find Giuliani in contempt for allegedly violating the injunction to stop claiming that the women engaged in fraud during the 2020 election or repeating any of the statements about them for which he was found liable for defamation. Their attorney said in a motion that the former New York City mayor has continued to accuse the women of wrongdoing on his online show, “America’s Mayor Live,” citing examples in two of his episodes.
Giuliani has in turn argued that out of his “hundreds of hours” of broadcast, he only briefly referenced “alleged ballot counting irregularities” in the Georgia location where Freeman and Moss counted ballots. He also said he did not name the women.
As he did for his contempt hearing last week, Giuliani tried to get permission to attend Friday’s hearing remotely, claiming in a motion filed Wednesday that he has multiple medical conditions and that he has safety concerns due to being an “outspoken critic of the Iranian regime.”
On Thursday, Giuliani withdrew his request to appear remotely after Howell asked for a sworn declaration that he has not left his Florida house in the past 30 days and will not do so in the next 30 days due to his stated medical and security concerns.
Giuliani has faced nonstop legal troubles due to his allegations against Freeman and Moss. He is set to make another court appearance on Jan. 16, when he goes to trial over the handover of some of his assets, including his World Series rings and his Palm Beach condominium, to the Georgia women.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
