Just days after a jury awarded almost $150 million to two former Georgia election workers for slander, Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in federal court in New York on Thursday.
With debts amounting to $100 million to $500 million, Giuliani indicated assets of up to $10 million in the petition.
The former mayor of New York City, federal prosecutor, and former Republican presidential frontrunner has suffered further setbacks since serving as Trump's attorney following the 2020 election, the most recent of which is the bankruptcy declaration.
Giuliani's debts include hundreds of thousands of dollars to accountants and attorneys and over $1 million in back taxes.
In terms of other legal matters, he mentions three defamation claims involving statements made after the 2020 election. These cases have not yet gone to trial, but if he is found liable and compelled to pay damages, they might increase his debt.
Giuliani's political advisor, Ted Goodman, said, "The filing should be a surprise to no one" (quoted Thursday). Nobody could have thought that Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York City, would have the financial wherewithal to pay a fine of this magnitude. Chapter 11 will provide Mayor Giuliani the chance to appeal. It will keep his finances open and under the watchful eye of the bankruptcy court so all of his creditors will be treated fairly and equally.
This comes only one day after the federal court presiding over the landmark defamation case ordered Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss to commence collection efforts against Giuliani.
In her order from Wednesday, US District Judge Beryl Howell said that Giuliani had avoided showing his value by withholding evidence from the prosecution before trial, had ignored prior court orders requiring him to pay back the women for his legal fees, and had maintained, on multiple occasions, that he was financially strapped and that the verdict would have a devastating effect on him.
As the trial progressed, Joseph Sibley, an attorney representing Giuliani, claimed that Freeman and Moss were seeking "the civil equivalent of the death penalty."
"They're attempting to depose Mr. Giuliani," announced Sibley.
Like Alex Jones's unsuccessful attempt in his Sandy Hook defamation case, Giuliani may seek an exemption from his debt to Moss and Freeman from the bankruptcy court.
It will be more difficult for Giuliani to avoid paying them back if he admitted in the final verdict of the 2020 election defamation lawsuit that he lied to them maliciously.
Meanwhile, attorneys representing Moss and Freeman have promised to investigate any potential financial backers of Giuliani, including his show on Newsmax, and to seek liens on his current real estate holdings in Florida and New York.
Edited by: Marina Ramzy Mourid
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