(Photo
by
Alex
Wong/Getty
Images)
Once
you
get
locked
into
a
serious
collection
of
contempt
findings,
the
tendency
is
to
push
it
as
far
as
you
can.
That
sentiment
—
borrowed
from
Hunter
Thompson
—
developed
into
a
mantra
for
former
mayor
Rudy
Giuliani,
and
much
like
the
famed
author
he
seems
to
have
gotten
away
with
it,
settling
the
case
after
forcing
the
court
and
opposing
parties
to
wait
around
for
hours.
Already
held
in
contempt
by
two
different
courts
—
courtesy
of
SDNY
Judge
Lewis
Liman
and
DC
Judge
Beryl
Howell
—
Rudy
decided
to
go
all
in
this
morning
and
completely
skipped
out
on
his
in-person
trial
before
Judge
Liman.
Giuliani
was
due
in
court
for
a
limited
trial
to
determine
if
he
could
declare
his
Florida
condo
as
his
primary
residence
to
avoid
having
to
forfeit
it
to
satisfy
the
$148
million
he
owed
Ruby
Freeman
and
Shaye
Moss,
the
Atlanta
poll
workers
he
defamed
by
accusing
them
of
stealing
the
election
from
Donald
Trump
in
Georgia.
Freeman
and
Moss
were
subsequently
targeted
by
MAGALand
crazies
and
Rudy
took
off
to
fart
on
lawyers
around
the
country
in
a
doomed
effort
to
pretend
the
election
didn’t
happen.
Since
losing
the
defamation
action
to
Freeman
and
Moss,
Rudy’s
been
on
quite
a
journey,
claiming
to
be
bankrupt
and
declaring
takebacksies
on
bankruptcy
(takebankrupt-sies?).
Amidst
his
misadventures
in
bankruptcy
court,
he
listed
his
primary
residence
as
his
New
York
residence,
which
he’s
since
realized
isn’t
as
advantageous
as
claiming
Florida
as
his
home
and
taking
advantage
of
their
generous
laws
shielding
a
primary
residence
from
creditors.
Today,
Judge
Liman
was
set
to
preside
over
a
limited
bench
trial
to
determine
if
Rudy
could
pull
this
switch-in-time-to-save-what’s-mine.
But
Rudy
just
never
showed
up.
In
fact,
while
already
nearly
two
hours
late
for
the
trial,
Rudy
publicly
let
it
slip
that
he’s
hanging
out
at
Mar-a-Lago
instead
of
showing
up
to
court:
Around
1:30,
Judge
Liman
announced
that
the
trial
would
be
postponed
with
Rudy
still
M-I-A
—
or
M-A-L
as
the
case
may
be
—
and
set
to
reconvene
on
Tuesday.
Presumably
with
additional
contempt
hearings
to
follow
in
due
course.
But
then
everything
seems
to
have
turned
around
for
Rudy:
This
account
makes
it
seem
like
this
was
all
a
big
misunderstanding
and
Rudy
was
at
all
times
locked
in
serious
settlement
conversations
with
Freeman
and
Moss
and
they
just
all
forgot
to
tell
Judge
Liman
to
delay
the
trial
while
they
talked.
Though
this
reading
runs
afoul
of
the
fact
that
plaintiffs’
lawyers
showed
up
on
time
this
morning
expecting
to
have
a
trial
while
Rudy
took
videos
of
his
dog
aiding
and
abetting
contempt
of
court.
Indeed,
the
joint
letter
from
the
parties
to
Judge
Liman
announcing
the
agreement
indicates
that
it
wasn’t
hammered
out
until
after
Liman
postponed
the
trial
to
next
Tuesday.
To
be
clear,
this
is
an
agreement
in
principle
that
the
parties
expect
to
reach
“full
satisfaction”
before
the
end
of
February.
That
said,
the
parties
had
a
long
standing
court
date
this
morning
that
didn’t
work
out
either
so
if
you’re
a
gambler
there’s
even
odds
that
we’re
going
to
be
right
back
here
on
February
25.
Earlier:
Rudy
Giuliani
And
His
Lawyer
Continue
Their
Courthouse
Vaudeville
Act
Rudy
Guiliani’s
Legal
Strategy
Is
Performance
Art
Giuliani
Bumstumbles
Into
Contempt
And
Sanctions
In
Freeman/Moss
Case
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
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if
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Joe
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Managing
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Search.
Kathryn
Olga
