Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy on Thursday in the Southern District of New York, less than one full week after he was ordered to pay $148 million to defamed Georgia poll workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman, Moss’ mother.
According to a Bloomberg News report on the filing, Giuliani — who served for some time as attorney to former President Donald Trump — claimed to have just $10 million in assets and up to $500 million in outstanding debt.
Giuliani’s bankruptcy attorneys, Heath Berger and Gary Fischoff, released a statement on Thursday saying that the Chapter 11 protections would give the former mayor the necessary time and breathing room to pursue an appeal in the Georgia case.
“The filing should be a surprise to no one. No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount,” they said.
Last Friday, after Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court in Washington determined that Giuliani had defamed Moss and Freeman in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, a Washington, D.C., jury ordered the former Trump attorney to pay out nearly $150 million:
- $16,171,000 to Ruby Freeman for defamation.
- $16,998,000 to Shaye Moss for defamation.
- $20 million to Freeman for emotional distress.
- $20 million to Moss for emotional distress.
- $75 million in punitive damages to both plaintiffs.
Giuliani called the ruling “absurd” and promised an immediate appeal, adding, “I don’t regret a damn thing.”
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His attorney in the Georgia case, Joe Sibley, said that if future appeals failed, that judgment was enough to ruin his client financially: “the civil equivalent of the death penalty.”
Giuliani still faces additional charges in Georgia — for racketeering and conspiracy — and is also being sued for defamation by both Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic Corp., both of which he had claimed were part of “rigging” the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden.