A judge ordered Rudy Giuliani to appear in a New York court Thursday to explain why he failed to meet a deadline to turn over his assets as part of a $148 million defamation judgment.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued the order Monday evening after attorneys for Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss — two former Georgia election workers who received the massive judgment — reported to the court that They visited Giuliani’s apartment in Manhattan last week. to see what assets were there, but had been emptied.

Liman had set an Oct. 29 deadline for Giuliani to turn over many of his belongings to representatives for Freeman and Moss, but none of the items have yet been turned over, attorneys for the former election workers said Monday.

These possessions include his $5 million Upper East Side apartment, a 1980 Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall and a variety of other possessions – from his television to a shirt signed by the TV legend. New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio going through 26 luxury watches.

The judge originally scheduled a status conference by telephone for Thursday, but changed it to an in-person hearing and specifically ordered Giuliani to appear in person in response to the report from Freeman and Moss’ attorneys.

Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s spokesman, said Tuesday that Giuliani made his assets available to Freeman and Moss. He did not directly answer questions about why no assets have been returned so far.

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“Opposing counsel, acting either negligently or deliberately deceptively, is simply attempting to further intimidate Mayor Giuliani until he is left penniless and homeless,” Goodman said in a statement. “It’s just another way for them to weaponize our once-sacred justice system.” This should concern every American.

Goodman added that Giuliani stored “a few items” over the past year and that “everything else deleted was related to his two live streaming programs that air every weeknight on his social media platforms.”

Giuliani’s lawyers did not respond to email messages seeking comment Monday evening or Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday afternoon, Liman rejected a request made earlier in the day by Giuliani’s lawyer, Kenneth Caruso, to postpone the in-person hearing until next week or hold it by telephone on Thursday as originally planned. Caruso said in a court filing that Giuliani had a “contractual commitment” to broadcast a live radio show Thursday and Friday evenings.

“In order to keep this commitment, he must be at his apartment in Palm Beach, where he has his broadcast equipment,” Caruso wrote, referring to Giuliani’s Florida property. “We note that broadcasts, such as those described above, currently constitute Mr. Giuliani’s sole source of income.”

Liman denied the request, saying in a decision published on the court docket that “no good reason was provided.”

Giuliani, the former New York mayor and longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was convicted of defamation for falsely accusing Freeman and Moss of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Giuliani accused them of sneaking ballots into suitcases, counting ballots multiple times, and tampering with voting machines, all while pushing Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

Freeman and Moss said the lies led to death threats against them, making them fear for their lives. A jury awarded them $148 million last year and they sought to take possession of many of Giuliani’s assets in the New York trial.

Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the former election workers, said in court papers that Giuliani and his lawyers refused to answer basic questions about the location of most of the valuables subject to the court order.

“This silence is particularly outrageous given the revelation that the defendant apparently took affirmative steps to move his property out of the New York apartment in recent weeks while a restraining notice was in effect and that a petition for assignment was pending regarding this property,” Nathan wrote.

On Thursday, the women’s lawyers were given access to Giuliani’s New York apartment to assess, with a representative of the moving company, the transportation and storage needs of the property to be returned.

Nathan, in his letter, said the residence was already “essentially empty” when the group arrived and that they had been told most of the apartment’s contents had been moved out about four weeks prior.

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“Except for a few rugs, a dining room table, some small misplaced furniture and cheap wall art, and a handful of small items like dishes and hardware stereo, the apartment was emptied of all its contents,” he wrote.

According to Nathan, this includes the “vast majority” of valuables known to be stored there, including artwork, sports memorabilia and expensive furniture.

He said Giuliani’s lawyers have since said part of the property was moved to a warehouse in Ronkonkoma, about 50 miles east of Manhattan on Long Island.

Nathan said it was unclear what assets were stored there because the former mayor’s lawyers had not provided an inventory.

Giuliani’s lawyers have argued — so far unsuccessfully — that Freeman and Moss should not be allowed to obtain and sell his assets while his appeal is pending in federal court in Washington.