Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, is facing yet another legal headache, and this time he’s asking a Manhattan federal judge to go easy on him. Giuliani has been dealing with a series of legal troubles, and this particular case has been flying under the radar. But now, it’s come to a point where he could lose by default simply because he missed important deadlines.
This case goes back to an incident involving Daniel Gill, a former grocery store employee from Staten Island. Back in May 2023, Gill filed a $2 million lawsuit against Giuliani. He accused Giuliani of lying to the police, which led to Gill’s arrest. According to the lawsuit, Gill had approached Giuliani during a break at work, gave him a pat on the back, and said, “What’s up, scumbag?” before walking away. Giuliani, however, told police that Gill “hit” him and caused him pain. As a result, Gill was arrested and spent 21 hours in jail before the charges were downgraded and eventually dismissed.
Gill also claims Giuliani didn’t stop there. He says the former mayor publicly accused him of being “drunk or high,” comments that Gill says cost him his job.
In the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, most of the claims against Giuliani and others were dismissed last November. But one key claim survived: defamation. That’s the part of the case Gill is still pursuing.
Things took a turn when Giuliani, who is acting as his own lawyer, missed two critical deadlines. First, he failed to file his response to the defamation claim by December 5, 2024, as required. Then, he didn’t show up for a court conference on December 12, 2024. The judge, Denise L. Cote, decided enough was enough and instructed Gill to file for a default judgment, which could automatically rule in his favor because Giuliani hasn’t been participating properly.
Now Giuliani is scrambling to avoid that outcome. In a letter to the court, he explained that he missed the deadlines because he wasn’t checking the email address associated with the case. He claims the emails from the court ended up in a separate folder that he didn’t notice until recently. He’s asking the judge to accept his late response and let him continue defending himself.
Giuliani’s explanation for the delay doesn’t stop there. He says the case had been “dormant” for about a year after he filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. When the court eventually ruled on that motion in November 2024, he says he didn’t realize it because he wasn’t regularly checking his email for updates on the case. He also thought the court might have required Gill to update his complaint after most of the claims were dismissed.
Along with his letter, Giuliani submitted his overdue response to the defamation claim. As of now, Judge Cote hasn’t decided whether to accept Giuliani’s explanation and allow him to proceed or let the default judgment stand.
For Giuliani, who’s already dealing with multiple legal battles, this case is yet another bump in a very rocky road. Whether the judge will grant him some leeway remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: the former mayor isn’t having an easy time in court these days.
