by NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani says a lawsuit by a woman alleging he forced her to have sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages is “a big part of the imagination.” full of exaggerations and lewd details “to create a media frenzy. ”
Giuliani said in court documents that he had a consensual relationship with Noelle Dunphy “for a few months” in 2019, during his time as former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, but denied that she ever worked for him or that he pressured her to have sexual relations.
Dunphy’s lawsuit, filed last month in New York state court, “contains a lot of conflicting allegations,” Giuliani said in his written response last Friday. His “singular goal” is to smear you, he said.
Giuliani wants a judge to throw out the lawsuit. If that doesn’t happen, he wants what he described as the most “frivolous, inflammatory and unnecessary” allegations dropped from the case. He is also asking that Dunphy be disciplined by the court for “inappropriate behavior.”
Dunphy’s attorney, Justin Kelton, said Tuesday that Giuliani is the one filling his court papers with “misrepresentations” in a “transparent attempt to avoid having to answer” to his allegations under oath.
“The allegations at issue in her motion go straight to the heart of Ms. Dunphy’s claims that she worked for Mr. Giuliani, that she was subjected to an outrageously hostile work environment, and that he repeatedly pressured her into unlawful sexual contact. wanted,” Kelton said. saying. “EM. Dunphy will vigorously oppose Mr. Giuliani’s attempt to expunge her alleged conduct and will hold Mr. Giuliani accountable for his false statements.”
Giuliani’s political and communications adviser, Ted Goodman, said: “I encourage everyone to read the motion in its entirety. The motion speaks for itself.”
Dunphy claimed in her lawsuit that she worked off the books as Giuliani’s director of business development and public relations consultant from 2019 to 2021. She is seeking at least $10 million in damages.
Dunphy claims Giuliani promised to pay him $1 million a year for his consulting work, but told him he had to defer payment until he resolved his divorce from his third wife, Judith.
Giuliani settled for divorce in December 2019, but Dunphy said all she received from Giuliani were a few cash payments totaling $12,000 to cover living expenses and he still owes her $1,988,000.
Among the allegations Giuliani wants dropped from the lawsuit are Dunphy’s claims that he was a hard-drinking, Viagra-taking womanizer who made satisfying his sexual demands “an absolute requirement of his employment.”
Giuliani also took issue with Dunphy by comparing some of his behavior to the scene in the 2020 film “Borat: Afterlife” where he is shown lying on a bed, hand tucking his shirt into his pants with a young woman acting as a television journalist close.
“This is the very definition of an outrageous and prejudicial allegation,” Giuliani wrote.
Dunphy claimed in the lawsuit that he made numerous audio recordings of Giuliani, including some in which he says he can be heard making sexual comments, demanding sex, and making sexist, racist and anti-Semitic remarks.
His legal team declined a request from The Associated Press to share those recordings, saying they are part of the litigation.
Dunphy, in her lawsuit, also accused Giuliani of reneging on a promise to represent her, free of charge, in a protracted legal battle involving allegations of domestic violence.
In that legal fight, Dunphy accused a romantic partner of raping her and throwing her down the stairs. The man she sued filed a counterclaim, saying he was the one being physically assaulted and harassed. She also sued for defamation, saying that he was being blackmailed.
Giuliani, in her response to Dunphy’s lawsuit, cited their earlier legal dispute as evidence that she is an “experienced professional at prosecuting former romantic partners for wrongdoing in civil litigation.”
Dunphy agreed to accept $10,000 to settle their claims in 2016. But the two parties were still fighting over a final resolution as recently as last year.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual abuse unless they give permission, as Dunphy has.
