Mayor Giuliani avoided trial on Thursday by reaching a tentative settlement agreement with two election workers from Georgia, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Shaye Moss, who were awarded a $146 million judgement in their defamation suit against him. The parties did not disclose the amount of the settlement Mr. Giuliani, 80, who has filed for bankruptcy, reached with the women, when it would be paid and who paid it.

“I have reached a resolution of the litigation with the plaintiffs that will result in a satisfaction of the plaintiffs’ judgement,” Mr. Giuliani said in a statement read by his defense attorney, Joseph Cammarata, outside of the federal district courthouse for the Southern District for New York on Thursday. 

By agreeing to a tentative settlement, Mr. Giuliani avoided going to trial, which was set to begin on Thursday and would have determined if he would have had to hand over his Florida condominium and four Yankees World Series rings as a down payment on the enormous penalty.   

“I am satisfied with and have no grievances relating to the result we have reached. I have been able to retain my New York co-op and Florida condominium and all of my personal belongings,” Mr. Giuliani’s statement said.          

Mr. Giuliani, 80, who represented Trump as a private attorney during his presidency, did not appear in court on Thursday. Scott McBride, an attorney for his son, Andrew Giuliani, told the Sun in the courtroom in the morning that the parties were “talking” after it was widely noted Mr. Giuliani had not shown up in court as he’d been ordered by a judge to do. His son had intervened in the case, arguing that the Yankees World Series rings were gifted to him. Both Mr. Giuliani and his son were supposed to testify during the trial. 

Around 11am the court clerk announced that the trial was adjourned until 1 pm. Then shortly after 1 pm, he said the trial would be adjourned until Tuesday. Neither the presiding judge, Lewis Liman, nor the plaintiffs were present. Finally, a joint letter was published in the afternoon. 

“Plaintiffs and Defendant have executed a settlement agreement that, once certain conditions are met, would fully resolve all issues currently scheduled for trial, including the claims of Intervenor Andrew H. Giuliani, and would result in the conclusion of all litigation currently pending between and among the Parties,” the filing said, adding that the parties would inform the judge as soon as the details of their agreement had been finalized. The parties further asked the judge to push all remaining court dates to after February 25.       

“The past four years have been a living nightmare. We have fought to clear our names, restore our reputations, and prove that we did nothing wrong,” Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss said in a statement. “Today is a major milestone in our journey. We have reached an agreement and we can now move forward with our lives. We have agreed to allow Mr. Giuliani to retain his property in exchange for compensation and his promise not to ever defame us.” 

Mr. Giuliani was found liable for defaming the two poll staffers from Georgia in 2023. After the 2020 election, Mr. Giuliani led multiple efforts on behalf of Trump to challenge the results, citing numerous allegations of voter fraud, including in Georgia, where Mr. Giuliani has been criminally charged in Georgia — as one of Trump’s co-defendants in Fani Willis’ endangered RICO case — and in Arizona.

In the case of Ms. Moss and Ms. Freeman, he accused them of seeking to tilt the vote in Joe Biden’s favor by passing around a USB drive “like vials of heroin or cocaine.” The women, who deny wrongdoing, say a video Mr. Giuliani claimed exposed the fraud was actually the mother giving her daughter a ginger breath mint. The authorities have cleared them of any wrongdoing.

The mother and daughter further say they received death threats after Mr. Giuliani’s allegations and sued him for defamation in 2021, and won the case in 2023. Mr. Giuliani, who filed for bankruptcy, and said he was financially not able to fulfill the judgment, faced losing some of his most cherished personal belongings, like his Mercedes Benz, which had at one point belonged to actress Lauren Baccall, his apartment in New York, his condominium in Florida, a jersey signed by the baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, and four Yankees World Series rings, which were given to him during his mayoralty by the team’s late owner, George Steinbrenner.

“This resolution does not involve an admission of liability or wrongdoing by any of the Parties,” Mr. Giuliani’s statement further said, while also indicating that threats, harassment and defamation were not pleasant experiences.    

“No one deserves to be subjected to threats, harassment, or intimidation. This litigation has taken its toll on all parties. This whole episode was unfortunate. I and the Plaintiffs have agreed not to ever talk about each other in any defamatory manner, and I urge others to do the same,” Mr. Giuliani said in his statement, which he also shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

His attorney, Mr. Cammarata, told reporters on Thursday that the settlement negotiations had been going on “for quite some time” but were “very extensive” in the last 72 hours. 

Andrew Giuliani, who was standing next to Mr. Cammarata added, “Today is a good day.” He also said he would join his father to attend President Trump’s inauguration on Monday. 

When asked by reporters how Mr. Giuliani had raised the funds to cover the judgment,  Mr. Cammarata did not answer the question.