12/21/2023 11:09 p.m., updated 12/21/2023 11:09 p.m
Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York and lawyer for former United States President Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday (December 21). The request came after Judge Beryl Howell of the District Court of the District of Columbia ordered him to pay $146 million to Fulton County, Georgia election officials Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who had sued him for defamation.
After the 2020 presidential election, Giuliani falsely accused officials of being part of an electionrigging scheme. The result was an order to pay $148 million in compensation (which the judge later reduced to $146 million).
The judge ordered immediate payment because there were fears that the politician would falsify his own finances in order to get rid of the fine. Its debts are estimated to be between $100 million and $500 million.
Giuliani's fortune was once estimated at $50 million, but today his net worth is between $1 million and $10 million, according to the bankruptcy filing. Additionally, the politician owes around $724,000 in income taxes for 2022 and 2021, with another $265,000 potentially owed to New York State.
In addition to taxes, the lawyer also faces another defamation lawsuit in 2021, filed by the company Dominion Voting Systems. He allegedly accused the institution of engaging in a voter fraud scheme in the 2020 election. Another company, Smartmatic USA, filed a lawsuit on the same grounds.
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The bankruptcy filing also shows that Guiliani owes an unspecified amount to businessman Hunter Biden, the son of current US President Joe Biden (Democrat). Hunter sued Trump's ally over the illegal disclosure of personal information he obtained from a computer technician in Delaware.
To make money and pay off some of his debts, the politician started selling Tshirts with the theme “June 11.” September” (the date of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington) and the sale of sandals from Mike Lindell, another Trump ally. He also sells personalized video messages on the Cameo platform for $325 each. However, it says “temporarily unavailable” on its page.