Rudy Giuliani files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after being ordered to pay $148M

Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani has filed for bankruptcy.

The former personal attorney to Donald Trump submitted the Chapter 11 filing on Thursday after being ordered to pay a massive fine for defaming two election workers in Georgia.

Giuliani was ordered to pay $148,169,000 to two women he falsely accused of committing election fraud in the 2020 election. Giuliani said Friday he would appeal the ruling.

RUDY GIULIANI ORDERED TO PAY $148 MILLION AS DEFAMATION TRIAL WRAPS UP

Rudy Giuliani appears at court in Washington D.C., for a defamation case

Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, departs the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"The absurdity of the number merely underscores the absurdity of the entire proceeding, where I've not been allowed to offer one single piece of evidence in defense, of which I have a lot," he said. 

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"So I am quite confident when this case gets before a fair tribunal, it will be reversed so quickly, it'll make your head spin and the absurd number that just came in will help that, actually."

The former New York City mayor — as well as Donald Trump ally and former personal lawyer — was on trial for the defamation of two Georgia election workers this week at a federal court in Washington, D.C. 

Giuliani had accused Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, of fraud while advancing former President Trump's unproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen. 

Rudy Giuliani in suit speaking

Rudy Giuliani, former personal lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump.  (Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell had already awarded default judgment to Freeman and Moss in August. 

Fox News Digital's Chris Pandolfo, Adam Sabes, and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Authored by Timothy Nerozzi via FoxNews December 21st 2023