Washington DC - Rudy Giuliani vowed to prove his innocence by testifying in his defamation lawsuit, but when the day came, he backed out at the last minute.

On Thursday morning, Giuliani arrived at the E. Barrett Prettyman US District Courthouse, where he was expected to take the stand in the trial.

But in a surprising twist, Giuliani apparently decided at the last minute to not testify.

The former New York City mayor is being sued by two Atlanta election workers, who have accused him of falsely claiming they had rigged the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.

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He lost the case by default in August after failing to provide any evidence, and current proceedings are to decide on how much he owes.

He also missed a scheduled court appearance in the case last week.

Giuliani, who used to be an attorney and close confidant of Trump, has continued to push the unfounded conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen.

He and Trump will face another trial next year in Georgia for their alleged plot to overturn the state's election results.

His decision to not testify comes as a surprise, as Giuliani earlier this week doubled down on his claims that the plaintiffs were "engaging in changing votes" and promised, "When I testify, the whole story will be definitively clear that what I said was true."

On Wednesday night, Giuliani also confirmed to reporters that he would still testify, adding that "the truth will come out... but I didn't say when."