Rudy Giuliani’s bid for bankruptcy protection went down in flames Friday as a federal judge greenlit creditors to swoop in and claim his assets imminently.
The former New York mayor sought refuge from financial ruin after a hefty defamation verdict pinned him for $148 million by a jury for slandering Georgia election workers post-2020. Now, Judge Sean Lane’s decisive ruling abruptly halts his bankruptcy shield, clearing a path for Ruby Freeman, Shaye Moss, and a slew of others to collect over $150 million Giuliani owes.
Lane’s scathing 22-page decision lambasted Giuliani’s opaque financial maneuvers since filing for bankruptcy half a year ago. The judge denounced Giuliani’s stonewalling on disclosures, citing suspicious wire transfers into his company coffers and evasions on income from books, radio gigs, and podcasts.
“Mr. Giuliani has failed to provide an accurate and complete picture of his financial affairs in the six months that this case has been pending,” Lane wrote in his ruling Friday. “The lack of financial transparency is particularly troubling given concerns that Mr. Giuliani has engaged in self-dealing and that he has potential conflicts of interest that would hamper the administration of his bankruptcy case.”
Once lauded as Time magazine’s Person of the Year and a Manhattan mainstay, Giuliani now faces a reckoning. With assets pegged primarily to two high-value properties in New York City and Palm Beach totaling $10.6 million, creditors like Moss and Freeman are wasting no time in targeting liens on these estates.
Giuliani’s legal team vows appeals against the defamation judgment while gearing up for a state-level brawl over impending property liens. Meanwhile, creditors eye his cache of assets, including bank accounts, a Mercedes-Benz, 26 luxury watches, and cherished sports memorabilia, potentially worth a fortune.
Yet Giuliani’s asset valuation remains contested, with creditors accusing him of lowballing their worth. Even a single World Series ring, they claim, could fetch upwards of $30,000—an assertion Giuliani disputes amid claims of unfulfilled tax refunds from a stint on “The Masked Singer” and anticipated windfalls from branded coffee and a long-gestating documentary.
Friday’s courtroom drama in White Plains marks a stunning downfall for Giuliani, whose legal acumen and political cachet once towered over American politics. Stripped of his New York law license and embroiled in criminal proceedings across Arizona and Georgia for his role in disputing Trump’s electoral loss, Giuliani now faces mounting legal onslaughts from a litany of aggrieved parties, including voting machine giants Smartmatic and Dominion.
His bankruptcy exit, compelled by furious creditors decrying bad faith and exploitation of the legal system, signals a bitter end to Giuliani’s fiscal evasions. As the legal walls close in, Giuliani’s once-gilded reputation lies in tatters, emblematic of a spectacular fall from grace fueled by his unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump.
