Pity the fool? Not when it comes to Rudy Giuliani. The 79-year-old immediately filed for bankruptcy protection last month after a D.C. jury required him to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers he defamed.
And in financial statements filed last Friday to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Giuliani reported a monthly net income of just $2,308. Among the assets Giuliani listed was a “possible claim for unpaid legal fees against Donald J. Trump,” and a “Joseph Biden Defamation Action.” In October, Giuliani filed a defamation lawsuit in New Hampshire against President Joe Biden for calling him a “Russian pawn” during a 2020 election debate, CNN reported.
Last summer, CNN reported that Giuliani and his then-attorney Robert Costello traveled to Mar-a-Lago “to make a personal and desperate appeal” to Trump to pay legal bills amounting to seven figures. And now it seems the student has become the master as Costello and his firm have since sued Giuliani for $1.4 million in unpaid legal bills.
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Under bankruptcy law, the former New York City mayor was required to disclose his sources of income and financial obligations in a statement of financial affairs, along with a detailed itemization of them in various schedules.
Giuliani could have been enjoying a comfortable retirement like many other New Yorkers in Florida at his $3.5 million condo in Palm Beach. Instead, the man who once earned the undeserved title of “America’s mayor” decided to throw his lot in with Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The former federal prosecutor made his reputation for using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act to bust mobsters. Now he is facing possible prison time after being indicted in the racketeering case brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis against Trump and 17 other allies for attempting to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia.
And the bankruptcy filing has brought further humiliation for Giuliani, who has already had his law license suspended in New York for making “demonstrably false and misleading statements” while fighting the results of the 2020 election on behalf of Trump. He is also facing disbarment in Washington, D.C.
The bankruptcy filing has effectively paused court-ordered collection efforts on behalf of former Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wanda “Shaye” Moss, who sued Giuliani for defamation after he falsely accused them of widespread election fraud. They testified that their lives were uprooted due to death threats and other harassment.
Giuliani’s attorneys hope to use the proceedings to modify the amount he owes Freeman and Moss, and potentially have “a do-over trial on the amount of damages he owes them,” the Law & Crime website reported.
Fortune reported that during a two-hour Zoom hearing on Friday, Giuliani’s attorney told the federal bankruptcy judge that the former New York City mayor lacks the funds to pay the $148 million he owes the election workers as well as other creditors.
“There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” the attorney, Gary Fischoff, said, noting that Giuliani was making his living as a radio and podcast host while dealing with a wide range of “financial issues.” …
In addition to the election workers, creditors include a supermarket employee who was thrown in jail for patting Giuliani’s back, two elections technology companies that he spread conspiracies about, a woman who says he coerced her into sex, several of his former attorneys, the IRS and Hunter Biden. Biden is suing Giuliani, saying he wrongly shared his personal data after obtaining it from the owner of a computer repair shop.
The bankruptcy court filings showed Giuliani listing assets of $10,632,334, of which $9.1 million is in real estate for his $3.5 million condo in Palm Beach and a $5.6 million condo in Manhattan, which is on the market.
Newsweek reported that Giuliani’s other listed assets include:
- A 1980 Mercedes-Benz SL500 - $25,000
- Household furnishings - $20,000
- TV and electronics - $2,500
- Sports memorabilia including signed Joe DiMaggio shirt and Reggie Jackson picture - unknown
- Clothes - $8,500
- Watches, diamond ring and three New York Yankees World Series rings - $30,000
- Citibank checking account - $31,000
- Savings account - $351
- Retirement accounts - over $1.4 million
The Daily Beast, citing the bankruptcy court filings, reported that Giuliani “made a net income of $18,480 in 2023 between Jan. 1 2023 and when he filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 21.” The Daily Beast added:
The new documents also reveal that Giuliani made a net income of $200,000 in 2022 and -$55,511 in 2021. In 2021, Giuliani was sued by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Machines, both of which are listed in his bankruptcy filing.
And that total of $2,308 in net monthly income doesn’t mean that Giuliani is living in poverty just yet. The $2,308 figure is derived from subtracting Giuliani’s reported monthly expenses from his combined monthly income. Law & Crime wrote:
According to the filings, Giuliani has a “combined monthly income” of just over $46,000 from various sources, including Social Security payments and income from a rental property or business, and requires minimum distributions from three separate retirement accounts.
At the same time, Giuliani claims monthly expenses of $43,797 — including court-ordered payments to his mother-in-law ($13,500) and alimony ($5,000). His personal expenses run somewhat high for a New Yorker and include itemized entries on transportation ($1,600), food and household items ($1,050), laundry and dry cleaning ($500), and personal care products or services ($425). The total also includes $10,934 per month for homeowner’s association or condominium dues on his New York City apartment, $5,166 per month for such fees on his Florida residence, and a $3,000 per month mortgage in Florida. He does not list any money being spent whatsoever on entertainment.
As to what’s next for Giuliani, he’s been ordered to testify in person under oath on Feb. 7 about the state of his finances, according to Law & Crime. And if all else fails, Giuliani has one last resort: free room and board courtesy of the state of Georgia.
RELATED STORY: ICYMI: Giuliani is broke
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