Rudy Giuliani has filed for bankruptcy days after being ordered to pay $148 million in a defamation lawsuit brought by two former election workers in Georgia. The Georgia election workers alleged, evidently persuasively, that Giuliani’s words “led to death threats that made them fear for their lives.”
In his filing Thursday (today), Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, “listed nearly $153 million in existing or potential debts.” Those listed debts include “close to a million dollars in tax liabilities,” money he owes his lawyers, and many millions of dollars in potential legal judgements in lawsuits against him.” Giuliani “estimated his assets to be between $1 million and $10 million.”
As reported, Giuliani’s “biggest debt is the $148 million he was ordered to pay a week ago for making false statements about the election workers in Georgia stemming from the 2020 presidential contest.”
News reports inform that Ted Goodman, a political adviser and spokesperson for Giuliani, a one-time Republican presidential candidate and high-ranking Justice Department official, is quoted as saying that the bankruptcy filing “should be a surprise to no one.”
Goodman elaborated: “No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount.” A bankruptcy filing also has strategic value. It would give Giuliani “the opportunity and time to pursue an appeal, while providing transparency for his finances under the supervision of the bankruptcy court, to ensure all creditors are treated equally and fairly throughout the process.”
Bankruptcy may not free Giuliani from the massive liability from the defamation case brought by former Georgia election workers Freeman and Moss. “Bankruptcy law does not allow for the dissolution of debts that come from a “willful and malicious injury” inflicted on someone else.”
Reporting asserts that last week’s jury verdict “was the latest and costliest sign of Giuliani’s mounting financial strain, exacerbated by investigations, lawsuits, fines, sanctions, and damages related to his work for Trump. As an example, in September, on of Giuliani’s former lawyers sued him for about $1.4 million in unpaid legal bills. In August, the IRS filed a $549,435 tax lien against Giuliani for the 2021 tax year.
