NEWS
Rudy Giuliani Files For Bankruptcy After Being Ordered To Pay $146 Million To Georgia Election Workers
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Rudy Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Thursday after a federal judge on Wednesday ordered him to immediately pay $146 million to Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
A Washington, D.C. jury last week awarded the election workers $148 million after U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found Giuliani liable for repeatedly defaming them by accusing them of fraud in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election for former President Donald Trump.
The judge reduced the amount of damages by $2 million, which they won in a settlement with Giuliani’s co-defendant, the OAN TV network.
“Giulianis failure to satisfy even more modest monetary awards entered earlier in this case, provides good cause to believe that he will seek to dissipate or conceal his assets during the 30-day period,” Howell wrote in her order, allowing Freeman and Moss to go after Giuliani’s assets in both Florida and New York.
The former New York City mayor and former personal attorney to Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he does not have the money, due to mounting legal bills and other debts.
But Howell said she was skeptical of Giuliani’s claims of poverty due to his persistent refusal to provide any financial documentation.
Such claims of Giulianis ‘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 said. “Giuliani has failed to show that he cannot pay the [amount] he owes.”
Although Giuliani can appeal the judgement, he would have to put up a bond for the full $146 million he owes the women.
According to his bankruptcy filing, Giuliani says he has liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million, and assets of just $1 million to $10 million.
He also listed Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, and Smartmatic USA as creditors. Hunter Biden sued Giuliani for violation of privacy over data allegedly illegally taken and disseminated from his laptop, while Smartmatic sued Giuliani along with others over their claims that the company’s voting machines fraudulently changed votes from Trump to Joe Biden.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in Georgia related to efforts to overturn the results of the election, along with Trump and other co-defendants.
TMX contributed to this article.
