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https://lawandcrime.com/uncategorized/rudy-giuliani-begs-bankruptcy-court-to-let-him-keep-his-florida-condo-so-he-can-keep-podcasting-to-pay-creditors/

 

Rudy Giuliani begs bankruptcy court to let him keep his Florida condo so he can keep podcasting to pay creditors

 

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When Rudy Giuliani defamed two poll workers with bunk allegations of election fraud in 2020, it triggered a wave of threats so acute, one of the workers was forced to flee her longtime home in Georgia. Now, the ally to former President Donald Trump — and his co-defendant in the racketeering case in Fulton County — is experiencing some domicile difficulties of his own.

In a motion filed Thursday, Giuliani, who owes election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss $148 million for defaming them, asked a bankruptcy court in the Southern District of New York to let him keep his Florida condominium, valued at $3.5 million, as he fights the judgment on appeal.

 

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The former New York mayor’s attorneys wrote in the 12-page motion that the recommendation by the Committee on Unsecured Creditors that he sell the home since declaring bankruptcy was premature.

“It appears that the Committee is assuming that most if not all of the Freeman judgment will survive on appeal, and is proceeding as if all of the Debtor’s assets need to be liquidated now to satisfy a potentially inflated claim. The debtor could be irreparably harmed if the Florida residence is sold and later it turns out that the Freeman judgment is vacated,” the instant motion states.

The committee told him there was “no legal basis” for him to keep the property.

 

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Giuliani does not oppose the sale of his property in Manhattan, however. That property could be sold so he could make his primary residence in Florida, he contends. His lawyers noted that the New York property is expected to be listed by Sotheby’s soon for $5 million.

With that home sold, Giuliani said he expects “his monthly expenseswill be significantly reduced.”

 

 

Spoiler

Though he claims creditors are accusing him of operating with “reckless abandon and improper judgment” in his attempt to hold onto the Florida property, Giuliani says he is “using sound business judgment” by acknowledging that one property must be sold while he keeps the other to “grow his broadcast income,” the motion states.

Debtors should not be forced to sell property where there is a “valid business justification,” he argues.

And as bankruptcy proceedings have been underway in recent weeks, Giuliani has emphasized repeatedly that his income flows from those broadcasting and podcasting businesses. As Law&Crime previously reported, the podcasts include Common Sense, which is distributed through YouTube, Rumble and Spike, as well as Uncovering the Truth, and The Rudy Giuliani Show. Giuliani streams those podcasts live on Instagram.

“Once the New York apartment is sold, the debtor will need a place to operate the Podcast from if he is to earn any money therefrom, the only remaining location would be from the Florida Condominium. The debtor is actually saving money as he does not need to pay for and maintain both a Podcast studio and his residence in both New York City and Florida,” his attorneys wrote.

In fact, they added, it was that income, and whatever future income he may earn, that would “only serve to benefit creditors.”

How profitable those future podcasts may be could be a bit unpredictable. Giuliani is still working to remain relevant on right-wing sites, though. To wit, on Thursday night during an appearance on the Rob Schmitt Tonight program for Newsmax, Giuliani railed about the judge overseeing Trump’s defamation case with writer E. Jean Carroll. He called the judge a “disgrace” and continued with his take on the judge’s findings.

“[Trump] was found not liable for rape,” he said. “It was sexual assault. Not rape. And second, you can be guilty of rape and still a person could be a whacko. That was the defamation — you’re allowed to defend yourself against defamation.”

Carroll claimed Trump raped and sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in the 1990s and at trial, she said he used both his fingers and penis to do so. The jury found he had only used his fingers, causing both immediate pain as well as long-lasting emotional psychological harm, as Law&Crime previously reported, but presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan explained even though jurors had not found Trump “raped” her under the technical definition — New York state law limits rape to the insertion of the penis into a person’s vagina — it “does not mean that she failed to prove Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.'”

“Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that,” Lewis wrote.

The “whacko” reference by Giuliani echoes similar commentary Trump used to describe Carroll in a 2022 deposition when he called her a “whack job” and “sick.” That deposition was played for jurors at the this year defamation trial and when asked by attorneys if he stood behind it in 2024, Trump replied: “100%.”

A spokesperson for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

 

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Wait…. Rudy could be homeless… in Florida?  Bad timing, Rudy. 
 

On 3/24/2024 at 11:42 AM, tchookem said:
On 3/24/2024 at 10:26 AM, Bullneck said:
image.thumb.png.ee2d4f7f7686780347ff3c3ca8582aa8.png

I mean, why don't they just sleep in their house?

 

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11 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

https://lawandcrime.com/uncategorized/rudy-giuliani-begs-bankruptcy-court-to-let-him-keep-his-florida-condo-so-he-can-keep-podcasting-to-pay-creditors/

 

Rudy Giuliani begs bankruptcy court to let him keep his Florida condo so he can keep podcasting to pay creditors

 

 

 

 

 

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Though he claims creditors are accusing him of operating with “reckless abandon and improper judgment” in his attempt to hold onto the Florida property, Giuliani says he is “using sound business judgment” by acknowledging that one property must be sold while he keeps the other to “grow his broadcast income,” the motion states.

Debtors should not be forced to sell property where there is a “valid business justification,” he argues.

And as bankruptcy proceedings have been underway in recent weeks, Giuliani has emphasized repeatedly that his income flows from those broadcasting and podcasting businesses. As Law&Crime previously reported, the podcasts include Common Sense, which is distributed through YouTube, Rumble and Spike, as well as Uncovering the Truth, and The Rudy Giuliani Show. Giuliani streams those podcasts live on Instagram.

“Once the New York apartment is sold, the debtor will need a place to operate the Podcast from if he is to earn any money therefrom, the only remaining location would be from the Florida Condominium. The debtor is actually saving money as he does not need to pay for and maintain both a Podcast studio and his residence in both New York City and Florida,” his attorneys wrote.

In fact, they added, it was that income, and whatever future income he may earn, that would “only serve to benefit creditors.”

How profitable those future podcasts may be could be a bit unpredictable. Giuliani is still working to remain relevant on right-wing sites, though. To wit, on Thursday night during an appearance on the Rob Schmitt Tonight program for Newsmax, Giuliani railed about the judge overseeing Trump’s defamation case with writer E. Jean Carroll. He called the judge a “disgrace” and continued with his take on the judge’s findings.

“[Trump] was found not liable for rape,” he said. “It was sexual assault. Not rape. And second, you can be guilty of rape and still a person could be a whacko. That was the defamation — you’re allowed to defend yourself against defamation.”

Carroll claimed Trump raped and sexually assaulted her in a dressing room in the 1990s and at trial, she said he used both his fingers and penis to do so. The jury found he had only used his fingers, causing both immediate pain as well as long-lasting emotional psychological harm, as Law&Crime previously reported, but presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan explained even though jurors had not found Trump “raped” her under the technical definition — New York state law limits rape to the insertion of the penis into a person’s vagina — it “does not mean that she failed to prove Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.'”

“Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that,” Lewis wrote.

The “whacko” reference by Giuliani echoes similar commentary Trump used to describe Carroll in a 2022 deposition when he called her a “whack job” and “sick.” That deposition was played for jurors at the this year defamation trial and when asked by attorneys if he stood behind it in 2024, Trump replied: “100%.”

A spokesperson for Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

 

Beg for mercy, you crooked bastard.  Maybe somebody will hand you something to end your useless life with.

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16 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Not dead. Disappointing bump. 

while Rudy (or Trump, or any other Republican officeholder or Republican voter, for that matter) dying would certainly be worth celebrating, watching Republicans’ lives be completely destroyed in real time is a delicious consolation.  

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  • 3 weeks later...
19 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

But not too soon. He deserves to be miserable and humiliated for awhile. 

I don't think he'll really notice.  He's been doing that on his own for at least a decade.  

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2 hours ago, Disco Strangler said:

I hope that he trips and falls while walking past a stable of Clydesdale horses, rips the rear seat of his britches, and is fucked to death in the ass by every stallion in the barn. The only acceptable end to America's mare. 

Whelp, we’ve finally found the perfect reply for the “prepare your anus” reaction. 

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10 hours ago, Disco Strangler said:

I hope that he trips and falls while walking past a stable of Clydesdale horses, rips the rear seat of his britches, and is fucked to death in the ass by every stallion in the barn. The only acceptable end to America's mare. 

michael fassbender perfection GIF

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🎶 A message to you, Rudy! 🎶

Spoiler

tenor.gif

Giuliani’s Spending: $43,000 a Month and a Lot of Credit Card Bills
Rudy Giuliani promised a bankruptcy court that he would limit his spending, but it didn’t take long before he broke that pledge, and by a lot.

Besieged by creditors and with his income drying up, Rudolph W. Giuliani laid out an austerity program of sorts in January for a federal bankruptcy court.

He would stick to a $43,000-a-month budget, he said in court filings, roughly in line with the income he drew from his retirement accounts and Social Security. That amount would cover, among other expenses, $5,000 in alimony payments to his ex-wife Judith Giuliani, $1,050 for food and housekeeping supplies and $425 for “personal care products and services.” He was also obliged to cover $13,500 in monthly nursing-home expenses for his former mother-in-law; she died in March.

Suggesting that he was mindful of the $153 million he owes to creditors, including two Georgia election workers he defamed in the aftermath of the 2020 election, he budgeted nothing for entertainment, clubs and subscriptions.

It did not take him long to blow his budget. In another bankruptcy filing, he said he actually spent nearly $120,000 in January. The accounting of his spending that he provided to the court was spotty and incomplete. He later provided more information to the creditors’ lawyers, listing 60 transactions on Amazon, multiple entertainment subscriptions, various Apple services and products, Uber rides and payment of some of his business partner’s personal credit card bill.

It is not clear whether he has pared back his spending to within his budget in the months since January, because he has failed to submit required disclosures to the bankruptcy court. But his spending, and his inability or unwillingness to give the bankruptcy court a fuller look at his financial status, have left his creditors suspicious and angry.

“These superfluous court filings are simply part of a larger effort to bully and intimidate the mayor through lawfare and a public smear campaign,” Mr. Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, said.

Spoiler

Once the mayor of New York City and later the personal lawyer to former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December after a federal judge ordered him to pay $148 million to the two Georgia election workers for falsely accusing them of rigging the outcome in President Biden’s favor. (Mr. Giuliani plans to appeal that judgment.)

His filing listed $11 million in assets, including his Upper East Side apartment, which he put on the market last year for $6.5 million, took off the market this winter and plans to re-list, and his condo in Palm Beach, Fla., which he valued at $3.5 million.

Months into the bankruptcy proceedings, Mr. Giuliani’s financial disclosures have been incomplete, inaccurate and in some cases completely absent. His creditors have asked for more details and clarifications, hired a forensic accounting firm and made a broad request for information to see if he is hiding money and assets.

The creditors’ lawyers recently issued a slew of subpoenas for documents, communications and information to Mr. Giuliani, people who work or have worked for him and even his son.

Every additional penny that can be found in Mr. Giuliani’s pocket means a larger payout for his creditors, even if it is far less than what he actually owes them.

That is why they also want him to collect $2 million that Mr. Giuliani claims he is owed in legal fees from Mr. Trump for the work he did leading the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

Mr. Giuliani lived a fairly frugal life during his mob-busting prosecutor and mayoral days.

“Giuliani and money is a story in and of itself,” said Andrew Kirtzman, who wrote two books on the former mayor. “It begins with him leading a very unpretentious life.”

But after leaving office, Mr. Giuliani began living a very different life, flying on private Gulfstream jets during the lucrative years of his private consulting and investment advisory businesses.

In 2007, when he was running for the Republican presidential nomination, he disclosed that his net worth was more than $30 million. A decade later, he and Judith Giuliani were spending $230,000 a month on their lavish lifestyle, including $7,000 on fountain pens and $12,000 on cigars.

These days, Mr. Giuliani brings in about $550,000 a year through disbursements from his dwindling retirement accounts and Social Security. His creditors want him to sell his properties in New York and Florida. But Mr. Giuliani recently told the bankruptcy court he would like to keep the Florida condo and live in it, suggesting that his creditors would not want him to be homeless.

His creditors are skeptical.

“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,” lawyers for the creditors wrote in a court filing.

His creditors also do not trust that he is being honest about the assets he does disclose.

For example, Mr. Giuliani lists among his assets an undisclosed number of shares in Uber, the ride-share service. He declared that he has $30,000 worth of jewelry, but that includes three World Series rings from the New York Yankees that creditors estimate are worth about $15,000 each.

He also failed to disclose a publishing contract for his upcoming book, “The Biden Crime Family.”

“As my mother would say, they don’t trust Giuliani as far as they could throw him,” Bruce A. Markell, a bankruptcy law professor at Northwestern’s Pritzker law school, said of the creditors, based on the actions they have taken in bankruptcy court so far.

His spending report for January was incomplete, with a list of two dozen charges to his American Express card, but no details. Lawyers for the creditors say he provided them a more detailed account, but it was not filed publicly in the court, as missing details typically are. And as of April 26, Mr. Giuliani had not provided details for his Discover card charges in January. The U.S. trustee assigned to his case did not respond to a question about why the additional details were not filed publicly in the court.

One of the two Georgia election workers he defamed, Shaye Moss, was selected by Mr. Giuliani’s creditors to serve on a three-person committee to represent their interests throughout the bankruptcy case.

The other committee members are Noelle Dunphy, a former employee who claims that Mr. Giuliani harassed and assaulted her beginning in 2019; and Lindsey Kurtz, the general counsel at Dominion Voting Systems, one of the largest voting machine vendors in the country, which has accused Mr. Giuliani of peddling falsehoods about it after the 2020 election.

“The committee has no intention of letting the debtor drive his case and the creditors off a cliff,” the lawyers wrote in a recent motion.

Mr. Giuliani entered his bankruptcy proceedings with a poor track record responding to discovery requests. Last year, a federal judge told jurors he intentionally hid information about his finances to shield his assets and make his net worth seem smaller.

In bankruptcy, the debtor has an obligation to disclose all of his assets in such a way that his creditors can understand what he has and the transactions he is making, Professor Markell said. Incomplete filings and failing to file requested material could end with the case being dismissed, which would open a debtor to foreclosures and collections.

“The more there is a pushback and an ignorance of the ability to comply — especially from someone like Giuliani, who is a lawyer — the more concern there is that there is actually something being hidden,” the professor said.

Mr. Giuliani has missed the filing deadlines for his February and March spending reports. Weeks ago, one of Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers, Gary C. Fischoff, said some filings have been delayed because “the accountant got upset at one point and wanted out.”

“He’s calmed down,” the lawyer added, “and we persuaded him to stick with the case.” Mr. Giuliani’s accountants did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Giuliani’s unresponsiveness, the creditors said, “leads one to question what he is hiding.”

Bankruptcy law allows creditors to get even older information from the debtor as well as from his associates. Mr. Giuliani’s creditors have asked the court to use this broad discovery request to obtain details about his finances going back to 2019, as well as information from his associates.

This request could unearth details about Mr. Giuliani’s foreign work, which has previously drawn scrutiny from the F.B.I. The forensic accounting team hired by the creditors comprises former intelligence officials with experience in countries where Mr. Giuliani did business, such as Ukraine, Turkey, Venezuela and Qatar.

Mr. Giuliani’s age presents its own challenge to creditors getting paid.

His circumstance differs from that of Alex Jones, 50, the bankrupt Infowars conspiracy broadcaster. Depending on the outcome of upcoming bankruptcy talks, Mr. Jones could work for decades to pay hefty damages to families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims for spreading lies about them. Mr. Giuliani turns 80 in May, and his future potential income is hampered by suspended law licenses in New York and Washington, D.C.

The financial statements he filed in the court show he is losing money on his revenue-making businesses, such as his WABC radio show in New York.

Mr. Giuliani continues to need lawyers in and out of bankruptcy court where he faces additional lawsuits, including a criminal indictment in Georgia for his and others’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. And he was recently indicted in Arizona, where he and others are also accused of trying to change the 2020 results.

Friends have set up two legal defense funds. One is a political action committee, and donors include Elizabeth Ailes, the wife of the late media mogul Roger E. Ailes; Arnold Gumowitz, a New York real estate developer; and James Liautaud, the founder of the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s. Another donor is Matthew Martorano, a Puerto Rico-based businessman who is a defendant in a federal fraud case.

The other fund, the Rudy Giuliani Freedom Fund, does not disclose the donors or the amount raised.

According to a court filing, as of the end of January, Mr. Giuliani had drawn more than $1.2 million from the two funds to pay his lawyers. The total amount raised from both funds has not been publicly disclosed.

His creditors’ lawyers have issued subpoenas for the names of the donors to his defense funds and receipts.

 

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