Rudy Giuliani’s son is trying to stop two Georgia election workers from winning a $148 million defamation lawsuit against his father for taking Giuliani’s New York Yankees World Series ring, saying in a new court filing that he was entitled to it because he was gifted it. he last year.
Andrew Giuliani, who is unsuccessful in his 2022 Republican bid for governor of New York, said in papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan that his father gave him four World Series rings as a gift in 2018. He added that he and his father agreed that the elder Giuliani would be temporary keep one of the rings to wear around.
Rudy Giuliani received the rings – one for each of the Yankees’ championships in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 – during his tenure as mayor of New York City in those years. In filings in his failed bankruptcy attempt this year, Rudy Giuliani listed three World Series rings as personal property as part of an estimated $30,000 jewelry collection that also includes expensive watches.
Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, have won a $148 million defamation lawsuit over Rudy Giuliani’s false ballot fraud claims related to the 2020 presidential election. Freeman and Moss say Giuliani pushed Donald Trump’s lies about the stolen election, which resulted in death threats that made him fear for his life.
In an effort to collect the judgment, Freeman and Moss are now asking a federal judge in New York to give Rudy Giuliani his Manhattan apartment, World Series ring and other property. Andrew Giuliani’s new court filing asked that he be allowed to intervene in the case to make a statement on the ring, and a judge approved the request Wednesday.
Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, is appealing the $148 million award in a federal appeals court, citing free speech rights and arguing that Freeman and Moss did not prove they made the ballot fraud claims with “actual malice” — a requirement to win a defamation case. . He asked a New York judge to delay awarding the property to Freeman and Moss until after the appeal is decided.
Attorneys for Rudy Giuliani and Freeman and Moss declined to comment Wednesday on Andrew Giuliani’s lawsuit over the World Series ring. Andrew Giuliani’s attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
In the filing, Andrew Giuliani said his father gave him the ring in May 2018 after a 74th birthday celebration for the elder Giuliani in New York.
“He said to me, in essence and in part, ‘I told you when I got this that it would be yours one day, and I want to give it to you now,'” the filing said. “As a child and young adult, I spent many nights with my father watching Yankees games and sharing our love for the team, and I’m happy to receive that ring.”
Andrew Giuliani also submitted to the court a photo of himself and his wife holding a case containing two rings while posing with his father the night he said he received the gift. He said the ring should not have been given to Freeman and Moss because it was his.
Rudy Giuliani’s assets – which also include a Palm Beach, Florida, condo, autographed Reggie Jackson and Yankee Stadium pictures, and signed Joe DiMaggio shirts – are estimated to be worth somewhere north of $10 million if sold off to pay Freeman and Moss.
Lawyers for Freeman and Moss alleged in court filings seeking possession of property that Rudy Giuliani has tried to thwart attempts to collect in court, including through legal actions including bankruptcy cases that were dismissed by the judge.
“Mr. Giuliani has avoided responsibility for his actions for years,” he said. “Now that Mr. Giuliani’s bankruptcy case has been dismissed, Plaintiffs can finally receive compensation by enforcing his decision.”
A federal judge in Manhattan has scheduled an October 17 hearing on the motion of Freeman and Moss seeking possession of Rudy Giuliani’s assets.
