Giuliani keeps his condo in defamation case

Rudolph W. Giuliani has reached a settlement with two Georgia election workers he repeatedly, and falsely, claimed helped steal the 2020 election.

The former New York mayor was at risk of losing millions of dollars in personal memorabilia, valuables and real estate that he had accumulated over his decades of practicing law and then public office. He had previously been ordered to pay about $11 million of a $148 million judgment he owed to election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, who he claimed tampered with the ballots.

The full details of the settlement have not yet been released, but a letter signed by both sides in the case said that once certain conditions were met, it would result in “the termination of all litigation.”

Mr. Giuliani declared victory and said he would hang on everyone a treasure trove of items that included a 10-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side, a vintage Mercedes-Benz convertible and a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey.

The plaintiffs, through their legal team, said they had agreed to allow Mr. Giuliani to keep his property and other assets in exchange for an undisclosed amount of damages and his promise not to defame the women again.

“The last four years have been a living nightmare. We have fought to clear our names, restore our reputations and prove that we did nothing wrong,” the women said in the statement. “Today is a big milestone in our journey. We have reached an agreement and we can now move on with our lives.”

Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer for Mr. Giuliani, said outside the courthouse Thursday that negotiations were hammered out “over the last 72 hours” and that his client was satisfied with the outcome.

He also declined to discuss the status of the sanctions that Mr. Giuliani faced being found in contempt in two courts linked to the defamation case. The sanctions could have included the possibility of imprisonment.

In a statement, Mr. Giuliani that he will keep the Manhattan co-op and an apartment in Palm Beach, Fla., his most valuable assets.

But it is unclear how Mr. Giuliani will pay the undisclosed amount to the two women he defamed. He had said in court that the case had exhausted all his financial resources. He still faces criminal charges in two states and other civil cases related to the 2020 election.

The settlement came after a dramatic day in court, where Mr. Giuliani was expected to take the stand to plead for the right to keep the Florida condo and three Yankees World Series rings.

But he never showed up.

For hours, lawyers filed into the Lower Manhattan courtroom, and the judge, Lewis J. Liman, did not sit on the bench.

The reason for Mr. Giuliani’s absence was not immediately clear, but more than an hour after the trial was set to begin, a video was posted on his X account by a lap dog named Vinny wearing a tie emblazoned with the word Trump.

“Vinny loves hanging out at Mar-a-Lago, but he’s ready to spend a lot more time in Washington, DC over the next four years in support of his favorite president — Donald J. Trump!” said the message.

Mr. Cammarata declined to say where Mr. Giuliani was on trial.

It had appeared until Thursday that Mr. Giuliani’s baseless claims about the workers would cost him millions of dollars in assets. He had been uncooperative in handing over a large portion of the property, which led to him being held in contempt of court earlier this month.

Mr. Giuliani was expected to be the main witness in court Thursday, followed by his son, Andrew Giuliani, who was expected to testify that his father gave him the three World Series rings — personally made for the former mayor after the Yankees’ championship wins in 1996, 1999 and 2000 – and that they should therefore not be seized.

Andrew Giuliani said after the trial that he will get to keep the rings.

“Today is a good day,” he said, adding that he was proud of his father.

Mr. Giuliani had long sought a stay of the trial because he said it would interfere with his plans to attend events surrounding Mr. Trump’s inauguration in Washington.

Mr. Giuliani, 80, once a federal prosecutor for the same New York judicial district where the trial was to take place, was barred from practicing law in New York, where he was born and raised, and in Washington, DC, last year for trying to to undermine the 2020 election results.

The settlement comes at a favorable time for Mr. Giuliani. Judge Liman held him in contempt last week for failing to answer basic questions that could have substantiated his claim that his Palm Beach apartment was his primary residence and therefore exempt from seizure under Florida law.

Mr. Giuliani was also held in contempt in a Washington court last week for continuing to make defamatory comments about the two election workers. The judge in that case, Beryl A. Howell, said any further violations could land him in prison.