Experts have bad news for cash-strapped Giuliani: Even bankruptcy can't save him from $148M verdict

A federal jury in Washington on Friday ordered former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pay nearly $150 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers he defamed by falsely accusing them of election fraud in 2020, upending their lives.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye "Shaye" Moss filed a lawsuit against Giuliani for making baseless claims about them being involved in a fake ballot processing scheme during their roles as election workers for Fulton County in the last presidential election. The jury awarded the pair $148 million, with a combined $75 million in punitive damages, compensatory damages of $16.2 million to Freeman and $16.9 million to Moss and $20 million to each of them for emotional suffering, The New York Times reported. 

Jurors listened to firsthand accounts from Freeman and Moss, who detailed the racist threats and harassment they were inundated with after Giuliani identified them in security camera footage of the ballot processing facility and falsely tied them to voter fraud. 

"Every single aspect of my life has changed," Moss said. "I'm most scared of my son finding me or my mom hanging in front of our house.”

Giuliani even accused them of passing USB flash drives like “vials of heroin or cocaine,” alleging a scheme to defraud Trump of an election victory. Moss later testified before Congress, clarifying that she and her mother were passing candy.

The net worth of Giuliani's assets, which has reportedly fluctuated over the years, is currently believed to be less than $48.6 million, CBS News reported. His attorney Joe Sibley told the jury that awarding the plaintiffs tens of millions would be "the civil equivalence of a death penalty" for Giuliani.

But actions with intent, such as defamation, “are not dischargeable in bankruptcy,” former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor, told Salon. Even if Giuliani were to declare bankruptcy, he would still be obligated to fulfill the debt. 

The election workers could obtain orders from the court clerk's office to “garnish any wages and place liens on his properties,” ensuring they receive proceeds from any sales, McQuade said. 

Last week’s verdict adds to the extensive array of legal and financial challenges confronting the former New York City mayor.

“Does he have $148 million? No, I’m not even sure that Rudy Giuliani can afford to pay for Four Seasons landscaping right now,” former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Sunday. 

But Giuliani cannot shield himself from the ruling through bankruptcy, he added, echoing the same reasons McQuade provided. Katyal explained that safeguards offered by bankruptcy laws do not extend to judgments of this nature, which include intentional harm.

After obtaining a judgment against someone, there is usually a process of post-judgment discovery, which aims to identify the person's assets and assess what can be collected or subjected to a lien, Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told Salon.

“In this case, Giuliani quite stubbornly refused to reveal his resources before trial, and it would not shock me if he continues to stonewall,” Fleischman said. “Remember, he hasn’t paid the sanctions award the judge ordered for violations at trial, or $60,000 in phone bills, or his own lawyers who were foolish enough to take him at his word in another case.”

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Collecting the judgment against him is going to be “agonizing,” but given the substantial amount, the women should be able to find specialists who will track it down and put liens against whatever resources he does have, garnish his wages, and levy against his bank accounts, Fleischman said. 

The judgment is "nondischargeable" in a bankruptcy proceeding, Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, told Salon. The only way Giuliani can get around this is by having the court reduce the judgment, winning an appeal, or settling with the plaintiffs.

Declaring bankruptcy will most likely be unhelpful for Giuliani since it doesn’t cover intentional torts, like defamation. That’s why Alex Jones was unable to discharge his debt, Fleischman explained. 

A reason why people prefer to sue large institutions with insurance is that insurance companies cover their legal expenses in the event of a judgment against them. These companies are concerned with “preserving their reputation and their credit,” he added.

“But Giuliani had his shame gland surgically removed and he’s going to make every step of collecting even a scrap of this judgment into a grinding misery,” Fleischman said.