Donald Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy one day after a federal judge ruled he must immediately pay two Georgia election workers the $148 million defamation judgment determined by a Washington jury. In paperwork filed Thursday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, Giuliani lists assets between $1 million and $10 million, and debts between $100 million and $500 million.
Georgia election interference
Giuliani files for bankruptcy after judge orders immediate payment of $148 million defamation judgment
Key players: Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, District Judge Beryl Howell, Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss
- One day after Howell ordered Giuliani to immediately pay Moss and Freeman a $148 million defamation judgment stemming from his assertions that the two women had helped rig the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in New York, Reuters reported.
- In paperwork submitted to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Giuliani said he had assets of between $1 million and $10 million, but that he owed between $100 and $500 million, including the $148 million owed to Moss and Freeman.
- Giuliani’s filing also lists Hunter Biden as a creditor, but did not specify the amount of money he owed the president’s son. Hunter Biden sued Giuliani in September for violating his privacy.
- In Wednesday’s ruling, Howell suggested Giuliani was not being truthful about his finances in an effort to avoid paying out the two election workers.
- “Such claims of Giuliani’s ‘financial difficulties’ — no matter how many times repeated or publicly disseminated and duly reported in the media — are difficult to square with the fact that Giuliani affords a spokesperson, who accompanied him daily to trial,” Howell wrote.
- On Monday, Moss and Freeman filed another lawsuit against Giuliani to keep him from repeating his election lies.
Why it matters: Giuliani still faces steep legal bills in Georgia, where he is charged with 11 felonies in the plot to overturn the 2020 election results. The jury’s verdict, awarding Freeman and Moss $148 million after being defamed by Giuliani, is also one more example of the courts dismissing Trump’s election falsehoods. Trump continues to promote those baseless claims and, in at least one case against him, plans to push them as a defense strategy.