A judge formally ended Rudy Giuliani’s expunged bankruptcy on Friday after he and his creditors resolved an impasse over how to pay administrative expenses.
The official order unfreezes attempts by two Georgia election workers to collect on the former New York City mayor’s $148 million defamation judgment, lifting the bankruptcy protections that for months allowed him to maintain control of his assets.
Three weeks ago, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane ruled to dismiss the bankruptcy for cause due to Giuliani’s lack of financial transparency, which underpinned months of escalating tensions. But since then, the dispute over expenses has prevented Lane from issuing his formal order.
Lane lost patience with the impasse, which concerned how Giuliani would provide about $400,000 to a court-approved company that his creditors hired to investigate his finances. In a heated, written hearing, the judge threatened to force Giuliani, former President Trump’s former personal lawyer, to testify under oath to answer questions about his available assets.
On a concise letter presented to court on Wednesday morning, Giuliani and his creditors suddenly announced a settlement. Lane signed on Friday, formally ending the case and immediately lifting Giuliani’s bankruptcy protections.
It allows Georgia’s two election officials, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, to begin seizing Giuliani’s assets as they try to collect his $148 million judgment, even though they are likely to recover much less than that. Giuliani disclosed $10.6 million in assets to the bankruptcy court.
They won in a jury trial in December over Giuliani’s baseless claims that the pair committed mass voter fraud in 2020. Giuliani froze the ruling — and other cases pending against him — by quickly filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Under terms of the agreement, Giuliani must put $100,000 in escrow, which his lawyers certified was already sent on Tuesday. The remainder will be paid from the sale of his apartment in New York or his condominium in Florida, which make up the majority of his assets.
Global Data Risk, the company whose expenses Giuliani must pay, could force a sale within six months if he fails to act.
The settlement came after Giuliani’s creditors complained to the bankruptcy judge that he was not providing enough information about his assets, preventing an agreement on how to pay expenses.
Lane has repeatedly called on the parties to reconvene to resolve the issue, but last week acknowledged that there was “no resolution on the horizon.”
Giuliani’s committee of creditors was made up of Moss, one of the election workers; Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine company that also sued Giuliani after the 2020 election; and Noelle Dunphy, a former Giuliani employee who sued him alleging sexual assault, harassment and failure to pay wages.
While the bankruptcy filing also unfreezes the cases against the former mayor and federal prosecutor, the cases have not yet gone to trial, possibly leaving them with nothing to collect after the efforts of election workers.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
