'A murky mess': Combative Rudy Giuliani blistered by judge for balking at turning over documents

On Friday, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani received a dressing down from a U.S. District Court judge for slowing down the discovery process in a civil trial, with Giuliani complaining about having to turn over information about his finances and worth.

According to a report from Politico's Josh Gerstein, Judge Beryl Howell grew testy with the former mayor and Donald Trump lawyer during the "unusual" three-hour hearing and expressed exasperation with his delay tactics.

Gerstein reported, "Howell repeatedly expressed irritation at having to expend considerable time on the discovery dispute, which she suggested should have been worked out by the parties," with the report adding she was incensed by "Giuliani’s efforts to search for relevant emails and messages" calling it a "murky mess" and adding, "I can’t say I’m happy about it."

The case in question centers on two Georgia poll workers who claim Giuliani defamed them with accusations of election fraud during the 202 presidential election.

On Friday Howell ordered Giuliani to hand over a "detailed accounting of his finances and net worth," and the Politico report notes that Giuliani continued to complain to the judge despite his attorney, Joseph Sibley, trying to rein him in.

"The former mayor said complying with the document demands in the poll workers’ libel suit was complicated by the fact that the FBI seized all of his electronics in April 2021, as prosecutors investigated potential violations of foreign-agent laws in connection with Giuliani’s work in Ukraine," Gerstein wrote before adding the "indignant" Giuliani exclaimed to the judge, "I’ve been dealing with this for 50 years. I understand the obligation. There’s nothing I want to hide. I’d like them to see everything. … Not being perfect doesn’t mean you’re deleting things. I don’t delete things.”

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