[...] the Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition he filed today, [...]
Republicans have been quite clear that they believe that kind of tax negligence merits immediate incarceration — at least it does in Hunter Biden’s case.
In addition to the $148M judgement he owes Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, he also owes his co-defendant in the Hunter Biden lawsuit, Robert Costello, over $1.3M for past representation.
He has a lawyer and is not filing pro se. He lists his civil lawsuits all as contingent and contested. It appears the $148M verdictd in the defamation lawsuit has been reduced to a judgment.
As to collection efforts, there is a bankruptcy stay on pending litigation, with its exact reach unclear to Crabgrass. Given that the filing is recent, there likely are no court papers yet beyond the debtor in possession's filing.
Do note, the EmptyWheel quote gives an online link for the filing.
search = rudy giuliani bankruptcy
From the return list, Politico, e.g., from a plethora of links:
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in New York Thursday, as legal bills from his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election for former President Donald Trump pile up.
The filing comes days after Giuliani, 79, was ordered to pay $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers who said their lives were upended after the former Trump lawyer falsely accused them of manipulating ballots during the 2020 election.
“The filing should be a surprise to no one. No person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Rudy Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount,” Ted Goodman, Giuliani’s political adviser, said in a statement. “Chapter 11 will afford Mayor Giuliani the opportunity and time to pursue an appeal, while providing transparency for his finances under the supervision of the bankruptcy court, to ensure all creditors are treated equally and fairly throughout the process.”
According to the Chapter 11 filing , Giuliani holds debts of about $153 million, while only claiming up to $10 million in assets. The former mayor owes close to $1 million in state and federal taxes and owes millions to several law firms, including $1.36 million to Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, the law firm where Giuliani’s longtime lawyer Robert Costello works. Costello is suing Giuliani for unpaid bills.
The vast majority of his debts stem from the decision in the case of the Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss.
Even before the ruling last week, Giuliani was reportedly in dire financial straits, and he has at times turned to Trump’s political action committee for help paying his legal bills. His extraordinary debts could grow depending on the outcome of several other lawsuits against him that he also listed in his bankruptcy filing. They include defamation cases brought against him by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems and a pending case President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, brought against Giuliani and Costello, alleging they violated federal and California-based computer fraud laws in their efforts to disseminate potentially damaging material.
Again, a link to the filing is given by Politico. With background. Other reporting may have more insight, the Politico item was randomly chosen. There likely will be more detail emerging.
___________UPDATE___________
It is speculative, but this might not have happened had Rudy kept Trump at a distance. It seems people who get close to Trump get burned. Not all, but those charged in the Georgia RICO action, hush-money fixer Cohen, business accountant Allen Weisselberg, Pence with that noose image, bedding guy Mike Lindell, Stone and Bannon but they got pardoned, . . . Son-in-law Jarad is doing okay. It is a mix.
__________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Where this situation may grow legs, is noted by the EmptyWheel sentence, "Republicans have been quite clear that they believe that kind of tax negligence merits immediate incarceration — at least it does in Hunter Biden’s case."
A guess is the Biden DOJ will not want to be piling on, no FBI or IRS investigation launched about delinquent taxes, no special prosecutor, just let Rudy show one thing with the Republicans, juxtaposed to how they hound Hunter Biden. Note it, perhaps political advertising will take a focus, but why should Biden or Garland look vindictive when there are two election workers who got a big judgment because of Rudy's mouth. They won in court and their legal team seems able to do heavy lifting. Let things develop, check asset and liability disclosures as they get pinned down in the Chap. 11 proceeding, with an eye toward asset hiding possibilities. Let Rudy fend for himself, since it seems that is what Trump intends to do. Rudy could turn. Abandonment might weigh on him. Not likely but possible.
________FURTHER UPDATE________
Strib carried the AP report which noted:
Giuliani's filing came a day after U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington said Freeman and Moss did not have to wait the standard 30 days before starting work to collect the judgement, finding that Giuliani could use that time to hide his assets.
Cause and effect. Where time takes this story will prove interesting.
_________FURTHER UPDATE________
There was some handwriting on the wall that Rudy was facing financial ruin, Sept. 1, this Guardian report:
Brian France, a former Nascar chief executive, was slightly more conciliatory. But he told the same outlet his wallet was staying shut: “I was a major supporter of Rudy in 2008 and at other times. I’m not sure what happen[ed] but I miss the old Rudy. I’m wishing him well.”
Donald Trump happened to Rudy.
Giuliani, now 79, was once a crusading US attorney who became New York mayor in 1993 and led the city on 9/11 and after. Capitalising on the resultant “America’s mayor” tag, he ran for the Republican nomination to succeed President George W Bush. Briefly leading the polls, he raised $60m but flamed out when the race got serious.
When Giuliani struggled with drink and depression, his former wife has said, Trump gave him shelter. When Trump himself entered presidential politics, in 2016, Giuliani became a vociferous surrogate. When Trump entered the White House, Giuliani failed to be named secretary of state but did become the president’s aide and attorney.
From the perspective of the Democratic Party, the single sentence nutshell needs to be advertised:
Donald Trump happened to Rudy.
And now Rudy is a broken man. Facing a judgment he can neither pay, nor appeal, nor escape. In a bankruptcy Chap. 11 the defamation judgment is stalled, but only a successful appeal could lessen the amount to where his remaining assets, and negotiation, may cover things. How likely the two election workers may be willing to engage in negotiating might change with time.
____________FURTHER UPDATE__________
Web search = Trump hosts a $100,000-per-person fundraiser to help Giuliani pay legal bills
Web search = Allies of Rudy Giuliani have created a 'Freedom Fund'
One might expect something about the outcome of such "help Rudy" efforts to surface as a part of Rudy's bankruptcy asset disclosure. Was it Rudy's money, or controlled otherwise, and if otherwise, who, what, when, how apply to following such money.
The unpaid lawyers Rudy disclosed in petitioning for Chap. 11, in particular, might ask.
Remember, as to allegations of Trump "sharp" dealing -
Web search = trump portrait charitable sale buy-back
Guardian reported about the alleged portrait dealings:
Cohen told the House oversight committee that Trump told him to find a straw bidder to purchase the portrait by William Quigley, with the objective being to “ensure that his portrait, which was going to be auctioned last, would go for the highest price of any portrait that afternoon”.
Cohen told Congress: “Mr Trump directed the Trump Foundation, which is supposed to be a charitable organization, to repay the fake bidder, despite keeping the art for himself.”
Trump also tweeted about the sale saying he had “just found out about it”.
Just found out that at a charity auction of celebrity portraits in E. Hampton, my portrait by artist William Quigley topped list at $60K
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2013