Former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court, just days after a jury ordered him to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud. The accusations were made following Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss.
According to the filing, Giuliani listed debts between $100 million and $500 million, and assets worth up to $10 million. He also lists pending lawsuits, including three defamation cases over his statements after the 2020 election that haven’t yet gone to trial and could add to his debt if he’s ordered to pay damages.
Giuliani also listed nearly $1 million in unpaid taxes among his liabilities, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to lawyers and accountants.
He may ask the bankruptcy court to excuse his debt from Moss and Freeman. However, part of the final judgment in the 2020 election defamation case against Giuliani included his acknowledgement that he defamed them with malice. This fact will make it harder for him to discharge his debt to them.
Giuliani’s bankruptcy filing will pause all pending civil lawsuits against him, and enables people and companies to wipe out or reorganize their debts. But not all debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy, as judges have ruled that defamation penalties cannot be discharged if a debtor has engaged in “willful and malicious” conduct.
The two former election workers, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, faced an overwhelming number of threats after Giuliani falsely claimed they were engaged in voting fraud.
US District Judge Beryl Howell said in her order that Giuliani had escaped revealing his worth by refusing to turn over evidence he had in the case before trial, never acknowledged previous court orders for him to reimburse the women for his attorneys’ fee, and repeatedly claimed he’s broke.
Moss and Freeman’s lawyers have indicated they would move quickly to ask for liens on Giuliani’s existing properties in Florida and New York and researching entities that may be providing money to him, such as Newsmax, where he has a show.
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