Rudy Giuliani has been making unauthorized payments on his credit card, a committee of his bankruptcy creditors have claimed.
They told a bankruptcy judge—who controls the former New York City mayor's spending—that they will not allow Giuliani to drive his creditors "off a cliff," and said they are making a last attempt to get him to comply with his obligations to the bankruptcy court before they start using tougher legal methods.
Giuliani declared bankruptcy in December, two days after mother-daughter election workers successfully sued him for defamation after Giuliana falsely alleged that the duo had committed election fraud while counting ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, and helped rig the election for Joe Biden in 2020, with a Washington, D.C., court awarding them $148 million.
"Unfortunately, the committee is not surprised by the Debtor's failure to file complete and accurate financial disclosures. This is more of the same," they said in a court filing.
"The Committee has no intention of letting the debtor drive his case and creditors off a cliff. Accordingly, the committee files this motion as its last-ditch effort to compel the debtor to meet his fundamental obligations as a debtor in possession and avoid seeking the immediate imposition of more draconian relief," they warned.
Outlining spending by Giuliani that has not been approved by a bankruptcy court, the committee alleged in the court filing, "In January, he made various unauthorized payments, including payments of thousands of dollars for the credit card bills of Maria Ryan and one of his businesses."
Dr. Maria Ryan is the president of Giuliani's media company, Giuliani Communications, and his co-host on the WABC radio program Uncovering the Truth.
Giuliani's adviser, Ted Goodman, told Newsweek that the creditors are part of a larger smear campaign.
"These ridiculous court filings are part of a larger effort to try to bully the mayor into silence through lawfare and a public smear campaign. Mayor Rudy Giuliani—one of America's most effective federal prosecutors and one of the most successful mayors we've ever had—won't be taken down."
He said Giuliani's opponents had "nothing better to do than harass a man who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of the community and people around him."
A committee of his unsecured creditors, who have been seeking to monitor Giuliani's spending, now want a Manhattan bankruptcy judge to mandate that he must file "delinquent monthly operating reports" for the months that he has also not filed any reports of his spending. They also want the judge to mandate that he "file timely future monthly operating reports."
"As has been made abundantly clear in filings with the court, at hearings before the court and through correspondence with the debtor's counsel, the committee does not have confidence in the debtor's ability to meet his obligations generally as a debtor in possession and specifically related to making timely and accurate required financial disclosures," they said.
"The debtor continues to show that he is either incapable or unwilling to do so."
In a court filing on April 1, Giuliani's creditors accused him of engaging in "histrionics" by claiming that he could be left homeless if he had to sell his $3.5 million condo in Palm Beach, Florida, which his creditors want him to use to pay part of his debts.
"The Debtor also resorts to histrionics, asking '[s]urely the Committee does not intend the Debtor to join the ranks of the homeless?' It seems hardly worth pointing out that there is a vast gulf of housing options available between residing in an approximately $3.5 million Palm Beach condominium and homelessness," according to the April 1 filing by Philip C. Dublin, an attorney for the creditors.
His creditors also contest Giuliani's "absurd" claim that he needs the condo to record his podcast.
"The Debtor also alleges that, '[o]nce the New York apartment is sold, the Debtor will need a place to operate the Podcast from if he is to earn money therefrom; the only remaining location would be from the Florida Condominium'."
"The Debtor further absurdly asserts that he is 'actually saving money [by keeping the Florida Condo] as he does not need to pay for and maintain both a Podcast studio and a residence in both New York City and Florida'," Dublin wrote.
Update 05/01/24 17:20 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from Ted Goodman.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more
