Rudy Giuliani Files for Bankruptcy, Citing $500 Million Debt
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On Friday a Washington, D.C., jury ordered Giuliani to pay more than $148 million for defaming two Georgia election workers after the 2020 election
Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and onetime attorney for former President Donald Trump, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, listing debts of nearly $500 million.
Outlets including The Washington Post report that Giuliani, 79, lists losses stemming from tax liabilities, as well as money he owes his lawyers as he navigates a landmine of lawsuits as well as millions of dollars in legal judgments.
Giuliani's bankruptcy filing came nearly one week after a Washington, D.C., jury ordered him to pay more than $148 million to two Georgia election workers for defamatory statements he made about them following the 2020 election.
Related: Ga. Poll Workers Testify at Jan. 6 Capitol Riot Hearing About Living in Fear Since 2020 Election
The defamation lawsuit was brought by the poll workers — Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss — who sued Giuliani after he publicized a video that claimed to show them rigging the election in Joe Biden's favor, following Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The women were awarded $20 million each for emotional distress and a total of $75 million in punitive damages. Freeman was awarded $16 million for claims of defamation, while Moss was awarded nearly $17 million.
In a statement to the Post, a spokesperson for Giuliani said of Thursday's bankruptcy filing: “The filing should be a surprise to no one. No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount.”
Once known as "America's Mayor" in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Giuliani has in recent years faced a slew of controversies — many of them related to his relationship with Trump and his time spent hosting press conferences and appearing on television and in courtrooms to contest the results of the 2020 election.
Giuliani's public appearances were not only striking for their substance, but for the lawyer's combative tone (and, in one viral moment, for his appearance when what appeared to be hair dye ran down his face during a live press conference).
After spending months arguing, without proof, that the election had been stolen from Trump, Giuliani and other allies of the former president failed to prove their case, with many of their lawsuits being tossed out of court altogether.
Giuliani faces several financial challenges in addition to the recent Georgia lawsuit, and has in recent months been sued both by his own former attorneys and Dominion Voting Systems over his false election conspiracy claims.
In August Giuliani was indicted on 13 felony charges alongside Trump and several other allies in Fulton County, Georgia, for an alleged conspiracy to meddle with the results of the state's 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has not yet gone to trial.
Related: Cassidy Hutchinson Claims Rudy Giuliani Groped Her on Jan. 6: 'Like a Wolf Closing In on Its Prey'
In September, CNN data reporter Harry Enten cited polls showing that Giuliani's popularity had dropped some 60 points over the last 21 years.
"I've never seen anything like this." Entin said during the segment. "I remember when Rudy was a hero in the city in New York, and look at what he is now. He is, for most Americans, just a disgrace — at least, according to the polling data."
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