Rudy Giuliani Faces Fresh Legal Headache

The two former Georgia election workers to whom former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani owes almost $150 million have accused him of taking advantage of the bankruptcy system.

A jury on December 15 awarded $148 million in damages to Wandrea "Shaye" Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, for defamation.

Giuliani, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump, falsely claimed that Moss and Freeman committed ballot fraud in Georgia as he fought to keep Trump in the White House after Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. The women said Giuliani's targeting of them led to death threats.

The judgment added to Giuliani's financial troubles, many stemming from lawsuits related to his actions around the 2020 election.

Days later, he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing put an automatic stay on the collection of the damages, but Giuliani also sought an exception from the stay to appeal the verdict and possibly request a new trial, Law and Crime reported.

Giuliani is "looking to have his cake and eat it too: he wants to appeal the Freeman Litigation, not post a bond, and use the automatic stay to bar Ms. Freeman and Ms. Moss from enforcing their judgment," attorneys for Moss and Freeman wrote in court papers filed in the United States bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday.

The lawyers said Giuliani is seeking an appeal after not responding to requests for information prior to the trial. He had "every opportunity to defend himself and chose not to participate," they wrote.

"Mr. Giuliani cannot simultaneously use the automatic stay as a shield to hold off creditors and as a sword to gut their legal rights," they added.

"If Mr. Giuliani truly wanted to appeal the Freeman Litigation, all he needed to do was not file for chapter 11 protection. Mr. Giuliani's sudden desire to participate in the Freeman Litigation, conditioned on a half-way lift of the automatic stay, calls the good faith of his chapter 11 filing into question."

Newsweek has contacted a spokesperson for Giuliani via social media. An attorney representing Moss and Freeman has been contacted for comment via email.

Ted Goodman, a political adviser and spokesperson for Giuliani, said in a statement to The Associated Press in December that Giuliani's decision to seek bankruptcy protection "should be a surprise to no one" because "no person could have reasonably believed that Mayor Giuliani would be able to pay such a high punitive amount."

The Chapter 11 filing will give 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," Goodman added.

After being awarded $148 million in damages, Moss and Freeman filed another lawsuit against Giuliani asking for a court order barring him from continuing to spread lies about them, pointing to comments he made during and after the damages trial.

The comments "make clear that he intends to persist in his campaign of targeted defamation and harassment," attorneys for the mother and daughter wrote in the complaint. The filing asks that a court issue "injunctive relief to permanently bar Giuliani from persisting in... [his] defamatory campaign."

Giuliani was indicted with Trump and others in August 2023 on charges related to efforts to overturn Trump's loss in the 2020 election in Georgia. Giuliani has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have suggested an August 2024 trial date.