Giuliani files for bankruptcy after $148m court loss

'America's mayor' faces a crush of debts stemming from his work on former president Donald Trump's behalf

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani departs a courthouse after he was ordered to pay $148 million in a defamation case. Reuters

Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, 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.

Mr Giuliani, who was known as “America's mayor” for his leadership of New York after the September 11, 2001, attacks, faces a crush of debts stemming from his work on the former president's behalf.

He also faces criminal charges in Georgia.

In a filing in US Bankruptcy Court in New York, Mr Giuliani said he had between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities and $1 million to $10 million in assets.

Aside from the former election workers, Mr Giuliani also listed President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and Smartmatic USA as creditors.

Hunter Biden in September sued Mr Giuliani for violating his privacy over data allegedly taken from his laptop. Smartmatic has sued the former New York mayor and other Trump allies for claiming the company's voting machines flipped votes from Mr Trump to Democrat Biden.

Mr Giuliani also said he owed nearly $1 million to the US and New York state governments and nearly $2 million in legal fees.

He led efforts to overturn Mr Trump's 2020 election loss through unsuccessful lawsuits and a wide-ranging effort to produce fake slates of electors in battleground states.

Last week, he was ordered by a jury to pay $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.

Mr 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 Mr Giuliani must immediately begin paying the two women, concluding there was a risk he may attempt to conceal his assets.

He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of election subversion in Georgia, along with Mr Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants.