Former New York City mayor and Former President Donald Trump's ex-lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, declared bankruptcy on Thursday over his $150 million debt in a defamation lawsuit.
Giuliani's bankruptcy came from tax-related losses and the money he owed his attorneys while navigating a minefield of lawsuits and millions of dollars in judgments.
Rudy Giuliani Declares Bankruptcy
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 15: Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, departs from the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse after a verdict was reached in his defamation jury trial on December 15, 2023 in Washington, DC. A jury has ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million in damages to Fulton County election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
Giuliani filed his bankruptcy one week after a Washington, DC, 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.
Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, filed a defamation lawsuit against Giuliani. The two sued Giuliani after he publicized a video claiming to show them manipulating the election in Biden's favor following Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The women were granted $20 million each for suffering emotional distress and a total of $75 million in punitive damages. Freeman was awarded $16 million for defamation claims, while Moss was rewarded at least $17 million.
On Wednesday, US District Judge Beryl Howell said that Giuliani had run off revealing his worth by refusing to turn over evidence he had in the case before trial. He added that Giuliani never acknowledged previous court orders for him to reimburse the women for his attorneys' fee, claiming he was broke and the verdict would severely hurt him.
Furthermore, Giuliani's attorney, Joseph Sibley, said Freeman and Moss were requesting the civil equivalent of the death penalty. He noted that they were trying to end Giuliani.
A spokesperson for Giuliani said, "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."
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Giuliani's Controversies
America's former mayor has faced many controversies, mostly related to his relationship with Trump while holding press conferences and guesting on television and in courtrooms to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
Giuliani and other allies of Trump have failed to prove their allegations that the election had been stolen from Trump, and many of their lawsuits were tossed out of court altogether.
He also faced several financial challenges in his Georgia lawsuit. In recent months, he was sued by his former attorneys and Dominion Voting Systems over his false election conspiracies.
In August, Giuliani was charged with 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. However, he pleaded not guilty to all charges and has not yet gone to trial.
In September, CNN data reporter Harry Enten shared that Giuliani's popularity has dropped 60 points in polls over the last 21 years. Enten said Giuliani was once a hero in New York City, but now, he was just a disgrace to most Americans.
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