A bankruptcy judge allowed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to appeal his $148 million defamation award awarded to Georgia election workers, on the condition that he not spend his own money on lawyers.
On Tuesday, US Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane issued a court order allowing Giuliani, 79, to request a new trial and challenge the amount of damages awarded to Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, whom Giuliani had falsely accused of fraud after former Republican President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.
Lane barred Donald Trump’s former lawyer from spending his own money on new litigation in the Georgia defamation case, demanding that Giuliani pay his lawyers with donations received from two legal defense funds.
In December, Giuliani was ordered to immediately pay $148 million in damages to the mother-daughter duo after a Washington, D.C. jury deliberated for ten hours before returning a unanimous verdict.
Less than a week after he was ordered to pay but said he couldn’t afford it, he was seen in Manhattan shopping for jewelry.
A bankruptcy judge has allowed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to appeal the $148 million defamation award awarded to Georgia election workers.
A court had ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million to Georgia election workers Shaye Moss (left) and Ruby Freeman (right) after a defamation case.
Rudy Giuliani was spotted shopping for jewelry in Manhattan, less than a week after he was ordered to pay $148 million for defaming two Georgia election workers.
Lawyers for the former New York mayor said at the time that he could not pay and asked the court to allow him to delay payment while he appeals.
His lawyers said at the time that he could not pay and asked the court to allow him to delay payment while he appealed.
Lane’s order allowed Giuliani to challenge the magnitude of the Georgia verdict, but not file a full appeal. If Giuliani decides to appeal Georgia’s defamation ruling, he will have to return to bankruptcy court for further approval.
Giuliani’s political adviser Ted Goodman told DailyMail.com: “We very much appreciate the judge’s quick consideration of this matter and look forward to proceeding accordingly.”
The once-lauded mayor filed for bankruptcy in New York in December, owing a staggering $153 million to creditors, including two Georgia election workers he defamed over the 2020 election result, lawyers, the IRS and Hunter Biden.
In August, Giuliani admitted to having “financial problems” while fighting multiple court cases and said he did not have enough money to defend himself.
He filed his petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, court documents show.
In the filing, Giuliani said he had between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities and between $1 million and $10 million in assets.
The filing listed Hunter Biden as one of his creditors, without specifying the amount Giuliani owed him.
In September, Hunter Biden sued Giuliani, accusing the former mayor of violating his privacy over data allegedly taken from his infamous laptop.
Giuliani is also listed as owing at least $700,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and more than $260,000 to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
The former New York City mayor is being sued by former aide Noelle Dunphy, who alleges he forced her to have sex while she worked for him between 2019 and 2021 and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages.
The once-lauded mayor filed for bankruptcy in New York in December, owing a staggering $153 million to creditors, including two Georgia election workers he defamed over the 2020 election result, lawyers, the IRS and Hunter Biden.
New documents filed Thursday show how Giuliani, 79, is seeking to litigate the case and have it dismissed.
Responding to Dunphy’s claims, Giuliani’s political adviser Ted Goodman told DailyMail.com: ‘Ms. Dunphy has a documented history of filing harassment complaints against men in order to make money, which has been reported in part by the New York Post.
‘EM. Dunphy’s history of this type of behavior is well documented and available through public records, and I look forward to the Independent including Ms. Dunphy’s documented history of this type of behavior.’
Meanwhile, Dunphy has already submitted graphic transcripts that allegedly describe recordings of his unwanted advances, including the vulgar comment “Your tits belong to me.”
Giuliani denies the claims and says the two were in a consensual relationship and said the lawsuit is filled with exaggerations and salacious details “to create a media frenzy.”