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GOP
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This is no surprise since the judge telegraphed his opinion during the hearing on Thursday, but now it is official: In a 22-page ruling, Judge Sean Lane threw out Rudy Giuliani's attempt to go bankrupt and ruled that he could not file again for 12 months. Now all his creditors are free to go after his assets. He has been trying to sell his Manhattan condo for about $6 million with no luck so far. He also has a condo in Florida worth $3.5 million. It is not known what other assets he has, if any, because he owns multiple LLCs that own other LLCs. But now his creditors, including the two Georgia election workers he owes $148 million, can hire forensic accountants to try to find out.
And there is more. Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic have sued Giuliani for defaming them. Those lawsuits were being held up by the bankruptcy case. They can now go forward. The companies are going to ask for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Giuliani doesn't have that kind of money. In fact, he probably can't even afford a lawyer since his current ones are suing him for $3.7 million in unpaid bills. The companies know he will never be able to pay them anything, but they want a formal court judgment saying he lied about them. Oh, and Giuliani also owes over $1 million in state and federal taxes.
He is also under criminal indictment in Georgia and Arizona. Again, he is going to need high-priced legal help—unless he flips and rats on Donald Trump and his coconspirators. That may begin to look like a good option soon. Remember, these cases could result in serious prison time. Arizona is the bigger danger because the Georgia case is being held up by the dispute over whether Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis can continue on the case. There are no obstacles in the Arizona case.
It is up to Lane to decide what to do next. He could appoint a trustee and give him complete control over Giuliani's finances. If Giuliani refuses to cooperate with the trustee, Lane could conceivably hold him in contempt of court and put him in jail.
The creditors potentially have some other options. Giuliani claims that various people—including Donald Trump—owe him money. The creditors could sue Trump and the others to get them to pay the money they owe Giuliani to them instead.
Theoretically, Giuliani could appeal Lane's ruling to toss his case, but if he does that, he needs to put up a $148 million bond first. Who would be willing to risk that much money for Giuliani? He certainly doesn't have any collateral worth anywhere near that. He also can't generate any income easily. He has been disbarred in New York and lost his job on WABC Radio. He will probably soon be disbarred in D.C. as well, as a board there recommended that in May.
How the mighty has fallen. He should have stayed out of politics after his failed presidential run in 2008 and just made a lot of money as a security consultant to big companies. (V)