Giuliani settles legal fight with former Georgia election workers, agrees to stop defaming them

NEW YORK — (AP) — Rudy Giuliani settled with two former Georgia election workers on Thursday in a deal that will let him keep his homes and personal belongings in return for compensation and a promise to never defame them again, lawyers and the women said.

The trial was supposed to decide the ownership of his Florida condominium and three World Series rings and was supposed to start in the morning with Giuliani's testimony. But that never happened. An agreement was announced by all parties in the afternoon.

The former election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, had been seeking all of Giuliani's property as part of a $148 million defamation judgment against him.

The women won the defamation judgment after saying Giuliani’s lies about the 2020 presidential election being stolen led to death threats that made them fear for their lives.

In a statement, the women said: “The past four years have been a living nightmare. We have fought to clear our names, restore our reputations, and prove that we did nothing wrong. Today is a major milestone in our journey. We have reached an agreement and we can now move forward with our lives. We have agreed to allow Mr. Giuliani to retain his property in exchange for compensation and his promise not to ever defame us.”

The amount of the compensation was not disclosed.

On social media, Giuliani released a statement, saying that he had reached a resolution that will satisfy the judgment against him.

“This resolution does not involve an admission of liability or wrongdoing by any of the Parties. I am satisfied with and have no grievances relating to the result we have reached. I have been able to retain my New York coop and Florida Condominium and all of my personal belongings,” he said.

“No one deserves to be subjected to threats, harassment, or intimidation. This litigation has taken its toll on all parties. This whole episode was unfortunate. I and the Plaintiffs have agreed not to ever talk about each other in any defamatory manner, and I urge others to do the same,” Giuliani said.

Giuliani's lawyer, Joseph Cammarata, said outside the courthouse that the deal resulted from long negotiations over the last three days that went “into the wee hours of the night.”

The deal negated the need for a trial that was supposed to begin Thursday morning in Manhattan federal court, where Giuliani was scheduled to be the first witness. He never came to court. The former Georgia election workers won the judgment against him.

Giuliani, 80, was to testify before the same judge who last week found him in contempt for failing to turn over information on some of his assets to the women's lawyers. As punishment, Judge Lewis J. Liman banned Giuliani from introducing some evidence.

Giuliani, who served for a time as personal attorney to President-elect Donald Trump during his first term, also was found in contempt last week in Washington, D.C. The judge there found that Giuliani continued to slander the election workers by repeating false claims that they counted votes corruptly in the 2020 presidential contest.

During the wait, Giuliani posted a video on social media showing a dog named Vinny on the grounds of Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, estate. The dog, the post said, "loves hanging out at Mar-a-Lago" but is "ready to spend a lot more time in Washington, D.C.," supporting Trump. It wasn't clear when the recording was made.

The trial was not intended to relitigate whether Giuliani defamed the women or the amount of the judgment against him, both of which are issues that have been decided, but rather to determine whether he would get to keep certain valuable assets instead of turning them over.

Among them was his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida. The former mayor says he established residence there in January 2024, but lawyers for the election workers say he continued to operate as if his New York apartment was his residence until it was surrendered in the fall as part of the judgment.

Also at stake were three World Series rings that Giuliani says he gave to his son, Andrew, in 2018.

As part of the deals, Andrew Giuliani will get to keep the rings, lawyers said.

At a recent hearing, Giuliani said he is “not impoverished” but does not have access to most of his remaining assets.

“Everything I have is tied up. I don’t have a car. I don’t have a credit card. I don’t have cash. I can’t get to bank accounts that truly would be mine because they have put ... stop orders on, for example, my Social Security account, which they have no right to do,” he said.

Giuliani said during a deposition last month that George Steinbrenner, the late New York Yankees owner, gave him the rings in 2002, although he insisted on paying for them and told Steinbrenner: "These are for Andrew." He testified that he gave one to Andrew immediately and kept three others for safekeeping. He estimated their total worth at $27,000.

Giuliani's total assets are not expected to amount to much more than $10 million. The Palm Beach condominium is believed to be worth more than $3 million.

He had already surrendered a New York apartment worth about $5 million, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall, numerous luxury watches and other assets.