Rudy Giuliani (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The judge presiding over Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy on Thursday granted a reprieve by declining to decide, then and there, whether the former New York City mayor should have to sell his million-dollar Florida condo, but the jurist also issued a clear warning: The worst is very likely yet to come.
Before a Thursday hearing, Giuliani asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane not to force him to sell the condo as he appeals the $148 million Georgia election workers defamation judgment that sent him into bankruptcy. Giuliani has maintained that the judgment was “unreasonable on its face” and has expressed doubts that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss suffered “any” damages.
Giuliani argued that ordering him to sell the Florida condo now when, in his view, the judgment may be significantly reduced on appeal, would cause him irreparable harm — and, in any event, he’s already agreed to sell his Manhattan property. He also said he’s “working diligently to grow his broadcast income” and plans to use the Florida condo to do so, which would “only serve to benefit creditors.”
While Lane did not make Giuliani sell the Florida property, Reuters reported that the bankruptcy judge did ominously forecast that lawyers representing the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors could lash out as harshly as one might imagine.
“The debtor may succeed in fending off this motion, only to be faced with far more draconian requests for relief in the future,” he reportedly said, warning that Giuliani’s assets may be pursued through other means. The Associated Press reported that the judge mentioned the committee may seek the appointment of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee — that is, a trustee who would “manage the affairs of the debtor and make all decisions” about Giuliani’s property and has the power to “propose a plan of reorganization.”
“This is a warning shot across the bow,” the judge reportedly told Giuliani, urging him to “promptly” clarify in detail the state of his finances.
There does appear to be some support for the judge’s warnings that the committee appointed to represent those Giuliani owes will assume an aggressive posture after the court declined to immediately rule on the Florida condo issue, amounting to a win for Giuliani — for now.
The committee, frustrated by delay tactics in early March, told the judge it was pursuing documents on the “nature of any legal services” that Giuliani “performed, or continue[s] to perform” for former President Donald Trump. The committee, adding that Giuliani and several allies (including his son Andrew Giuliani) should be made to sit for a deposition, demanded documents and communications “sufficient to show” Giuliani’s yearly and monthly earnings from media appearances, including on cable TV and radio, from his podcasts Common Sense (distributed through YouTube, Rumble and Spike), Uncovering the Truth, and The Rudy Giuliani Show, and from his America’s Mayor Live streaming on Instagram, Facebook, Gettr, and YouTube.
The creditors’ lawyers complained that Giuliani’s “historical pattern of financial obfuscation and discovery misconduct” could come into play again, as it did in the Freeman case that led to the bankruptcy proceedings. They claimed that several Giuliani asset disclosures were “incomplete or otherwise inconsistent,” whether for vagueness or for valuation discrepancies (including for New York Yankees World Series rings).
“Further, to date in the Chapter 11 Case, Giuliani and his counsel have been, at best, slow to respond to requests by the Committee to obtain documents and information regarding Giuliani’s assets and financial condition, and his financial disclosures to date in the instant case have been, at best, insufficient,” the committee said.
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