Rudy Giuliani rejects claim that property he owes in defamation case is missing

Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Thursday scoffed at claims that he is stonewalling on an order to surrender assets to two Georgia election workers he defamed.

"They just lied," Giuliani said as he headed into Manhattan federal court for a hearing on the dispute. A lawyer for the women has alleged that property subject to a forfeiture order in the defamation case was missing from his Manhattan apartment when it was recently checked.

"My apartment was filled with belongings," the former New York City mayor said, according to NBC News. "All the things that were appropriate were there. And the apartment was pretty full with things."

"So they're just lying completely," who on Tuesday drove to a Florida polling site in a Mercedes-Benz subject to forfeit to the women, Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea Moss.'

Giuliani fumed over a judge's order that he show up in court in person Thursday, saying it is "like a political persecution."

Giuliani was found liable in federal court in Washington, D.C. for defaming the two women by claiming they had committed ballot fraud at a vote-counting site during the 2020 presidential election, when he was representing President-elect Donald Trump. He was ordered to pay them $146 million in the case.

Asked Thursday if Trump has called him since winning the most recent presidential election, Giuliani said, "yes."

Asked what Trump had said, Giuliani replied, "I'm not going to tell you."

This is developing news. Check back for updates.