Does Giuliani still have to pay the $148 million of the defamation case after he filed for bankruptcy?
Rudy Giuliani has filed for bankruptcy after a court ordered him to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two former Georgia election workers.
Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has filed for bankruptcy after a federal jury ordered him pay a total of $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers.
Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye Moss had sued Giuliani for falsely claiming they were involved in a fake ballot processing scheme when they were election workers for Fulton County in the 2020 presidential election. Both received death threats after the former New York City mayor singled them out.
The amount the jury awarded the women was worth almost $100 million more than they had sued for: Freeman had sought $23.9 million in compensatory damages, while Moss petitioned for $24.7 million.
READ ALSO: The states trying to remove Donald Trump from their 2024 ballots
Does Giuliani still have to pay the $148 million of the defamation case after he filed for bankruptcy?
Giuliani’s filing in the Bankruptcy Court in New York states that he has between $100 million and $550 million in liabilities, and $1 million to $10 million in assets.
His spokesperson, Ted Goodman, said that the bankruptcy filing will give Giuliani time to appeal the multi-million dollar penalty. Filing for bankruptcy allows people and organizations to erase or restructure their debts.
However, the proceedings may not allow him to get out of paying Freeman and Moss, as judges have ruled that this kind of penalty must be honored if a debtor has been a party to “willful and malicious” conduct.
READ ALSO: Union membership declines as workplace fatalities hit highest level in over a decade
A federal judge has ordered Giuliani to immediately pay the two women, deciding that there was a chance that he would try to hide his assets.
Last week’s verdict is the latest hit on the 79-year-old’s finances. Once dubbed “America’s Mayor” for his unflappable leadership after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he has headed towards ruin due to lawsuits he faced in his efforts to help Donald Trump try to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election.