USA Verdict: Giuliani to hand over apartment to election workers

According to a court ruling, former New York mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is to hand over his Manhattan apartment to two female campaign workers whom he slandered after the 2020 US presidential election. They are also to receive Giuliani's watch collection and a Mercedes that once belonged to Hollywood actress Lauren Bacall, among other things.

Giuliani was sentenced last December to pay the two women - mother and daughter - 148 million dollars (currently 137 million euros) in damages for defamation. They had worked as election workers in the state of Georgia in 2020 - and Giuliani had falsely claimed after the election that helpers like them had thrown away ballot papers for Donald Trump and counted fake ballots for the Democrat Joe Biden, who ultimately won the election. The two women were targeted by angry Trump supporters because they appeared in a video circulated on the internet.

According to the ruling, Giuliani must hand over the apartment within a week. The women would then have the right to sell it, their lawyer Aaron Nathan told the news channel CNN. The apartment with a wood-paneled library is located on New York's Upper East Side, not far from Central Park. According to earlier reports, Giuliani put it up for sale in 2023 for 6.5 million dollars - and later lowered the price to just over 5 million.

The judge initially left open on Tuesday whether Giuliani can keep his property in Florida, which he had listed as his residence.

SDA