Rudy Giulianifiled for bankruptcy today, one day after a judge ordered the Donald Trump associate and former New York City mayor to start paying two former Georgia election workersthe $148 million awarded them last weekin a high-profile defamation lawsuit.
In his petition filed today in the United States Bankruptcy Court (read ithere), Southern District of New York, Giuliani lists $153 million in existing or potential debts, including almost $1 million in tax liabilities, money owed to his lawyers and millions of dollars in potential legal judgments in addition to the $148 million owed the Georgia election workers.
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Yesterday, District Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered the man once known as Americas Mayor to begin payments to the election volunteers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye Shaye Moss immediately out of concern that Giuliani may attempt to conceal and dissipate his assets.
Rudy Giuliani at U.S. District Courthouse in Washington D.C. December 15Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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In a press statement today, Giuliani adviser Ted Goodman said the bankruptcy filing should be a surprise to no one.
No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount.
Chapter 11 protection, Goodman said, will 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.
Last week, a federal jury awarded the two election workers a total of $148 million in their defamation case against Giuliani in which they detailed the harassment and death threats they received over Giulianis false claims that they were part of a conspiracy to rig the states 2020 presidential election results.
Claims by Giuliani and former president Donald Trump about rigged 2020 election results have repeatedly been debunked by Georgia state officials and other investigators.
