Giuliani files for bankruptcy after staggering $148M verdict

Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy Thursday, days after a jury ordered him to pay a staggering $148 million to two ex-Georgia election workers Giuliani baselessly accused of committing fraud in the 2020 election.

Giuliani’s Chapter 11 petition, filed in U.S. bankruptcy court in New York, lists between $1 million and $10 million in assets and between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities, the filing shows.

For months, the former New York City mayor has appeared to experience a cash crunch as he defended against increasing legal troubles in part for spearheading former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in court.

But the bankruptcy filing was spurred by a jury’s verdict last week ordering him to pay about $148 million to former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss following a four-day civil defamation trial.

Giuliani vowed to appeal the verdict, calling the amount “absurd.” But at Freeman and Moss’s request, the judge on Wednesday ordered the judgment be immediately enforced.

Filing for bankruptcy protections is likely to lead to a pause in the civil lawsuits Giuliani faces, including the election workers’ case, although Giuliani can’t use bankruptcy to discharge debts for “willful and malicious” conduct. His criminal case in Georgia would still move forward.

“The filing should be a surprise to no one,” Ted Goodman, political advisor to Giuliani, said in a statement.

“No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount,” Goodman added. “Chapter 11 will afford Mayor 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.”

Giuliani’s bankruptcy petition estimates he owes the largest amount known to the two women and has a total of less than 50 creditors.

The list of Giuliani’s largest creditors is a who’s who of people and groups that are actively suing him.

It includes Hunter Biden, the president’s son, who sued Giuliani over his involvement in Biden’s laptop scandal; voting-equipment companies Smartmatic and Dominion, which both sued Giuliani for defamation over his 2020 election claims; Giuliani’s ex-lawyers, who are suing him over unpaid legal bills; a Staten Island, N.Y. supermarket employee who sued Giuliani after being arrested for allegedly assaulting the former mayor; and one of Giuliani’s former employees, who accused him of sexual assault.

Giuliani also indicated in court papers that he owes about $724,000 in federal income taxes and about $265,000 in state income taxes.

Some of the details of Giuliani’s financial troubles were previously known. 

His lawyers have publicly noted a cash crunch, and Giuliani’s attorney in the recent election workers’ trial said the requested damages could mark the “end of Mr. Giuliani” and be the “civil equivalent of the death penalty.”

And in the ongoing lawsuit from the supermarket employee, court filings show Giuliani has taken to representing himself.

Giuliani also still faces criminal charges in Georgia for his efforts leading Trump’s legal team after the 2020 election. After being charged, he turned to Trump for help financially. Trump hosted a fundraiser for his former lawyer weeks later.

In July, Giuliani put his New York apartment up for sale for $6.5 million. The price was lowered by $400,000 in late October, the listing shows.

Updated 3:18 p.m.