Rudy Giuliani will finally keep his Florida apartment and his World Series rings

Nearly two dozen reporters and spectators packed into a drafty 15th-floor Manhattan federal courtroom Thursday morning to wait for the hearing. Rudy Giuliani testified in a trial to determine whether he gets to keep his $3.5 million Florida apartment and three World Series rings.

Except the former New York City mayor never showed up.

Giuliani is expected to take the stand and plead for his prized assets to be taken as part of the $148 million defamation verdict given to two Georgia election workers who the former mayor has repeatedly falsely claimed helped steal the 2020 election.

But after hours of confusion over his absence, the parties unexpectedly announced the case had been temporarily resolved and Giuliani would get to keep his home and sports memorabilia.

The courtroom initially buzzed with anticipation of high drama but quickly became quiet when Giuliani failed to appear and lawyers shuffled in and out of the Judge. Lewis J. Limanthe rooms of. After an hour, Liman’s brother, a Hollywood film director Doug Liman, probably went there to see the scene for himself so he gave up and abandoned the front row.

The search for clues to Giuliani’s whereabouts took a humorous turn after a video was posted to his X account showing his Pomeranian, Vinny, wearing a tie and “hang out” In Donald Trumpof the Mar-a-Lago resort while Bobby McFerrin’s song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” plays in the background.

Pressed for answers by a group of confused attendees, Giuliani’s defense attorney replied only “soon” before rushing out of the room with an Airpod in one ear, whispering on the phone with one hand covered. mouth.

At about 1:15 p.m., more than four hours after the trial was scheduled to begin, a courtroom official finally told the crowd to go home, cryptically telling reporters to Follow the official docket for updates. Minutes later, the mystery was solved: Giuliani was a temporary settlement agreement has been reached with two poll workers, Ruby Freeman And Shaye Moss, that would allow him to keep his property.

“I have reached a settlement with the Plaintiff which will result in the Plaintiff’s satisfaction of judgment. This Resolution does not involve an admission of liability or wrongdoing by any Party,” Giuliani said in a statement posted on X. “I am satisfied and have no grievances regarding the results we have achieved. I was able to keep the co-op in New York and the Apartment in Florida as well as all of my personal belongings.”

He added: “No one deserves to be threatened, harassed or intimidated. This litigation has caused damage to all parties. This whole episode was unfortunate. Plaintiff and I have agreed never to speak about each other in any defamatory manner, and I urge others to do the same.” The specifics of the settlement remain unclear.

The settlement marks a somewhat unfavorable end to Moss and Freeman’s courtroom battles to collect the remainder of a multimillion-dollar judgment from Giuliani following his conviction libel them in 2023.

Just last week, Giuliani was held in contempt of court New York And Washington after failing to hand over millions of dollars worth of assets in the case. To date, the 80-year-old lawyer has relinquished ownership of his $6 million property in New York City. apartmentseveral luxury watches and his 1980 Mercedes-Benz convertible were once owned by Lauren Bacall (which he drive to the polls in Florida Last Election Day).

Giuliani is expected to argue Thursday that the New York apartment is his primary residence and therefore not transferable. His son, Andrew Giuliani, is set to testify that three World Series rings — personally made for his father after the New York Yankees won in 1996, 1999 and 2000 — were given to him by the former mayor nearly seven years ago .

“The last four years have been a living nightmare. We fought to clear our name, restore our reputation and prove that we did nothing wrong,” Freeman and Moss said in a statement. “Today is an important milestone in our journey. We reached an agreement and now we can move on with our lives. We agreed to allow Mr. Giuliani to retain his assets in exchange for compensation and his promise to never speak ill of us.”