NEW YORK — The tough-talking former mayor who made his name putting lawbreakers in jail ran up against a tough-talking judge who’s ready to do the same — to him.
Rudy Giuliani has been warned: either produce the records of payments he says he made to his ex-wife or expect a deputy to haul him away.
“I mean, the sheriff is on notice to come at a moment’s notice,” Manhattan Civil Court Judge Michael Katz said Friday. “This is a very serious matter.”
Katz had already ordered the former mayor and presidential adviser to pay ex-wife Judith Nathan $235,000 as part of their 2019 divorce settlement.
Giuliani, who missed a recent court date, claims the amount is a “gross exaggeration,” and that he has the paperwork to prove it. Only, he hasn’t produced all of it yet, and the judge is getting tired of waiting.
“I don’t understand why it takes two months to get checks from Citibank,” Katz said. "I could get my bank records from entering my passcode on a computer. Nonetheless, he has now presented them. I have no desire to remand someone in custody until I am assured that he has truly not fulfilled his obligations.”
Giuliani, meanwhile, said he may have overpaid his ex-wife, and that she is misrepresenting how much she is owed. The two parties were told to sort out the evidence they need and to return to court at a later date.
“I’ve made every monthly payment but two,” Giuliani said. “And I gave her a check for $45,000 last time to cover that. It’s possible I’ve overpaid her.”
As for his paperwork problems, Giuliani blamed it on the bank. He said the missed court date was a mistake.
“It was very stupid, and it was not on purpose, I made a mistake,” Giuliani said, noting how many legal proceedings he is a party to. “My excuse is, I put it down incorrectly when I left the courthouse. I’m not lying to you. I am telling you the truth."
Among Giuliani’s other legal woes is a criminal probe in Georgia of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results there. Giuliani testified to a grand jury in Atlanta in August amid reports he might face criminal charges in the case.
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