Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) has just been penalized by a judge for disregarding a court order.
According to the Washington Examiner, this regards the defamation case that 2020 election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss have brought against him. The lawsuit was filed in December 2021.
The left-leaning outlet ABC News explains:
The mother-daughter tandem of Ruby Freeman and Wandrea "Shaye" Moss are suing the former New York City mayor for defamation over erroneous remarks he made accusing the pair of fraudulently manipulating ballots on Election Day 2020 in Georgia.
The pair, in addition to the defamation claim, have accused Giuliani of intentionally inflicted emotional distress and of having been the source of a civil conspiracy. They, accordingly, are seeking punitive damages.
The case is being overseen by Judge Beryl Howell in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Howell has already found Giuliani liable for defamation.
All that is left to do is to figure out what Freeman and Moss are going to be awarded. This will be decided by a jury.
Giuliani has not exactly been cooperating with the judicial system here. He, for example, has not responded to various discovery requests that were made by Freeman and Moss, including discovery requests for financial documents.
The court previously ordered him to comply, but he has still refused.
So, now, Howell is punishing him.
Howell, on Friday, wrote:
Giuliani’s continued and flagrant disregard of this Court’s August 30 Order that he produce financial-related documents concerning his personal and his businesses’ past and present assets, revenues, income, viewership metrics, and social media, all of which information is potentially pertinent at the upcoming damages trial
The judge further wrote that, as a punishment, the jurors will now be told that Giuliani intentionally hid the financial documents and other requested documents in defiance of a court order.
Howell wrote:
The jury will be instructed that it must, when determining an appropriate sum of compensatory, presumed, and punitive damages, infer that defendant Giuliani was intentionally trying to hide relevant discovery about the Giuliani Businesses’ finances for the purpose of shielding his assets from discovery and artificially deflating his net worth,
Howell added that Giuliani and his lawyer will be prohibited "from making any argument, or introducing any evidence, stating or suggesting that he is insolvent, bankrupt, judgment proof, or otherwise unable to defend himself."
Suffice it to say that things are not looking too good for America's Mayor.