Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, just days after he was ordered to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud as he worked to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential election loss.
Guiliani, who was known as “America’s mayor” for his leadership of New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, faces a crush of debts stemming from his work on former President Trump’s behalf. He also faces criminal charges in Georgia.
In a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Giuliani said he had between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities and $1 million to $10 million in assets.
A spokesperson for Giuliani said the bankruptcy filing will give him time to appeal the $148 million penalty and ensure that other creditors are treated fairly.
“No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount,” spokesperson Ted Goodman said.
U.S. bankruptcy proceedings can enable people and companies to wipe away or reorganize their debts, and Giuliani’s filing will likely pause all of the pending lawsuits against him.
However, it may not allow him to duck the money he owes the election workers, as judges have ruled that defamation penalties cannot be discharged if a debtor has engaged in “willful and malicious” conduct.
Aside from the former election workers, Giuliani also listed President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and a former employee, Noelle Dunphy, as creditors.
Hunter Biden has sued Giuliani for violating his privacy over data allegedly taken from his laptop, while Dunphy has sued him for sexual assault, harassment and wage theft. Giuliani has denied the allegations.
Dunphy’s lawyer Justin Kelton said they would not be deterred from pursuing the case.
Other creditors include Smartmatic USA and an employee of Dominion Voting Systems. Giuliani falsely accused both voting-machine companies of flipping votes from Trump to Biden, his Democratic rival in the 2020 election.
The two companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Giuliani also said he owed nearly $1 million to the U.S. and New York state governments and nearly $2 million in legal fees. Two law firms that formerly represented Giuliani have sued him for unpaid bills.
As Trump’s personal lawyer, Giuliani led efforts to overturn his election loss through unsuccessful lawsuits and a wide-ranging effort to produce fake slates of electors in battleground states.
His seat-of-the-pants effort drew widespread ridicule. He scheduled a press conference at a “Four Seasons” in Philadelphia that turned out to be a landscaping company, not a luxury hotel. At another news conference, a dark substance, possibly hair dye, dripped down his face.
He called for “trial by combat” at a rally for Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before thousands of them attacked the U.S. Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Trump’s defeat.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of election subversion in Georgia, along with Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants.
He owes $148 million to two former election workers, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, who faced a deluge of threats after he falsely claimed they were engaged in voting fraud.
Giuliani has repeated those claims following the verdict even though he has admitted in court that they were defamatory, prompting the two workers to file a second lawsuit.
A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Giuliani must immediately begin paying the two women, concluding there was a risk he may attempt to conceal his assets.
—Reporting by Luc Cohen, Andrew Goudsward Susan Heavey and Dietrich Knauth; writing Andy Sullivan; editing by Rami Ayyub and Jonathan Oatis