Rudy Giuliani Blasts Trump Campaign over Failure to Pay Him

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former personal attorney, said this week he is owed $2 million in legal fees from the former president's campaign.

Speaking at a New York bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday, Giuliani said Trump's campaign team never paid him for work he did after the November 2020 election, when was trying to prove baseless claims that Trump lost the race to President Joe Biden because of widespread voter fraud.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2023 shortly after he was ordered to pay $148 million in defamation damages to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The two former Georgia election workers were targeted by Giuliani and Trump supporters in connection with the election fraud claims.

Giuliani said during the meeting with his creditors at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that his claim about the money he is owed is against the Trump campaign and the Republican National Campaign, not against Trump himself, Bloomberg Law reported.

Rudy Giuliani in New Hampsire
Rudy Giuliani speaks to members of the media at a scheduled campaign event for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on January 21 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Giuliani says he is owed $2 million in unpaid legal... Brandon Bell/Getty Images

"At that point, [Trump] had a tremendous number of complaints that there had been fraud in the election," Giuliani told the court, according to a Mediaite report. "He asked me to lead that effort."

He continued: "Once I took over, it was my understanding that I would be paid by the campaign for my legal work and my expenses to be paid. When we submitted the invoice for payment, they just paid the expenses. Not all but most. They never paid the legal fees."

Giuliani said the legal work fees he is allegedly owed could prove critical as he tries to resolve his personal bankruptcy situation.

Trump's campaign team has been contacted for comment via email.

In addition to bankruptcy, Giuliani is facing a host of financial difficulties. Last September, Robert Costello, his former lawyer, sued him over claims the former mayor owes him more than $1.36 million in unpaid legal fees.

The same month, Hunter Biden, the president's son, sued Giuliani and Costello over claims they carried out a "total annihilation" of his privacy after accessing and sharing personal data recovered from his laptop, which had been left at a repair shop in Delaware.

Giuliani is also being sued by Noelle Dunphy, a former employee who alleges Giuliani sexually abused her and owes her $2 million in back wages. Giuliani has denied the allegations.

In a statement, Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, said the former mayor is the victim of political persecution.

"The only reason we're here today is because Mayor Rudy Giuliani has the courage to speak up and take on the permanent Washington political class, and he refuses to be unfairly censored or bullied into silence," Goodman said.

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About the writer


Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more

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