The former New York City (NYC) mayor disclosed this before a federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan on Feb. 7.
Almost two months prior, Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the wake of a $148 million defamation suit. The Feb. 7 testimony revealed that the erstwhile mayor of the Big Apple was in dire financial straits. "I wouldn't be bankrupt, up until that," he said.
Giuliani recounted that Trump himself asked him to "take over" his campaign's legal staff in November 2020, as other attorneys allied with the former president launched a failed effort to reverse election outcomes in states he lost. However, Giuliani has declined to hold the former president himself accountable for what he says are unpaid legal fees.
"At that point, he had a tremendous number of complaints that there had been fraud in the election," he remarked. "He asked me to lead that effort, [but I] never got a salary."
"Once I took over, it was my understanding that I would be paid by the campaign for my legal work and my expenses to be paid. When we submitted the invoice for payment, they just paid the expenses; not all, but most. They never paid the legal fees."
The three-hour hearing combed through dozens of pages from Giuliani's financial statements – including his assets, income, debts and other obligations. The latter included pending lawsuits for defamation and other allegations that could further sink Giuliani deeper into debt. Almost $40,000 in golf club membership fees – including $647 to the Trump International Golf Club – were included in the former mayor's financial obligations.
Back in December of last year, a jury ruled that Giuliani defamed two election workers – Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss. The former Trump attorney alleged that the two wheeled a suitcase full of fraudulent ballots into a vote-counting center and used a flash drive to rig the elections in favor of President Joe Biden.
The jurors ruled that Giuliani must pay Freeman $16.2 million and Moss $16.99 million for compensatory damages. Aside from this, he must also pay an additional $20 million each for intentional infliction of emotional distress and a further $75 million in punitive damages. All in all, the former NYC mayor owes the plaintiffs $148.19 million. (Related: Judge orders Rudy Giuliani to pay $148M in damages immediately because he's 'unlikely to win appeal.')
According to PBS, Giuliani left his law firm in 2018 to become Trump's personal attorney. He was reportedly involved in hush money payments given to adult film actress Stormy Daniels (born Stephanie Clifford). These payments later became the subject of a criminal case pushed by Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg.
Giuliani remained as Trump's personal lawyer through the rest of the former president's term, and even after the 2020 elections. A New York state court suspended Giuliani's legal license in 2021 for making false statements in pursuit of Trump's reelection.
The former mayor was among a group of 19 defendants – including Trump – who were indicted in August 2023 by Fani Willis, the DA for Georgia's Fulton County. The former president and his 18 other co-defendants allegedly participated in a wide-ranging effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state.
"Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump," Willis stated in the indictment.
Watch Rudy Giuliani argue that the defamation case filed by E. Jean Carroll against Trump, alongside the judge hearing it, should be thrown out.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
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