Rudy Guiliani has just filed for bankruptcy:
NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy days after being ordered to pay $148 million in a defamation case.
The only thing of value that he controls is his ability to flip on Trump. Will he or will he just continue to run up new instances of defamation?
Open Thread
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Priceless
Unreal the demons the NY Republican Party has foisted on this nation.
Also foist.
wenchacha
Of course he did. Slime is more attractive.
Butch
Am I correct that bankruptcy doesn’t shield him from the court settlement?
indycat32
Has anyone explained to him bankruptcy won’t protect him?
Ken
Hard to see how to monetize that, though I expect he’ll make an attempt.
Mike in NC
TV says mass shooting at a university in Prague leaves 15 dead. It was the most beautiful city we ever visited in 2010 while cruising the Danube.
Alison Rose
@Butch: Believe that is correct. LegalEagle had a video about how Alex Jones filing for bankruptcy wouldn’t let him get out of the Sandy Hook judgments, so I’d presume the same might apply here.
moops
Get a warrant for all his offices and seize every document in there pertaining to his finances. Appoint an executor to disperse his assets to his victims. Do it now or it will all disappear.
scav
Color everyone unsurprised. Playing the Woe is Poor Poor Uniquely Oppressed (send donations to) Me! card in the only arena they recognize, that of PR. What exactly does one call a deck that consists of a single card?
jonas
@Alison Rose: My understanding is that certain kinds of judgments arising from fraud or willful or malicious intent to harm are not dischargeable. I assume Giuliani will try to argue that his judgment does not meet those criteria so he should get off. I can’t see how that will work given the nature of the suit, and I’m not sure he can afford a lawyer anymore who is clever enough to thread that needle, so he’s probably pretty screwed.
Spanky
So does this let him get out of paying his lawyers?
Anoniminous
Next step: Ralph Giuliani sues his lawyer – Ralph Giuliani – for negligence and malpractice.
C Stars
I guess he didn’t sell enough pardons.
Wapiti
@Spanky: Might get him out of paying his exes?
Snarki, child of Loki
Next step: Ralph Giuliani sues his lawyer – Ralph Giuliani – for negligence and malpractice.
Giuliani won’t get any satisfaction from suing; better he just shoot the fncker.
Fake Irishman
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Agreed. I have seen some excellent titles on this blog over the years. This one might be the best.
H-Bob
Will he have to take the bankruptcy class that is a prerequisite for most personal bankruptcies?
That would be quite entertaining.
Alison Rose
@jonas: Yeah, that’s the key — the acts were clearly willful so he can’t weasel out of it.
Alison Rose
@H-Bob: You know what, I had to file for bankruptcy a few years ago and that class was so fucking insulting and stupid.
So yes, I hope to hell he has to go through it.
Tony G
New York City has an undeserved reputation as a liberal bastion. That false reputation can be demolished with three words: Mayor Rudy Guiliani.
Tony G
@jonas: I’m sure that Rudy’s good friend Donald Trump will be happy to bail him out (with Trump’s non-existent wealth). After all, there is no history of Trump screwing people who have helped him in the past.
Roberto el oso
A political nerd-geist! Over at LGM a post just went up with almost exactly the same title as this post.
waspuppet
Given what we know about Rudy’s stupidity and racism, my guess is he doubles down on the lies on the “rationale” of “I declared bankruptcy so that means I don’t ever have to pay them anything.”
MattF
Here is the recent order from the judge in Giuliani’s trial. She is very much onto his game.
JaneE
He can’t eliminate the judgement through bankruptcy, but he may get the bankruptcy court to lower the punitive amount by demonstrating to the judge that his actions were not malicious and deliberate. Good luck with that after he kept on defaming them and probably still is.
Ruckus
@Anoniminous:
Next step: Ralph Giuliani sues his lawyer – Ralph Giuliani – for negligence and malpractice.
He’d probably lose. Rudy was never a truly wealthy person. Sure he worked in jobs that paid pretty reasonably well. But he seems to have fallen into difficult mental times – decades ago, but/and he’s still – falling, and I believe his shitty rethuglican life is catching up with him rather rapidly. Tis a shame.
Ruckus
@jonas:
and I’m not sure he can afford a lawyer anymore who is clever enough to thread that needle, so he’s probably pretty screwed.
Just had to see that last bit again…..
CaseyL
Giuliani strikes me as someone who long ago lost any sane, coherent ideas about money: he’s always had enough of it to spend like a firehose, and there was always more coming in.
He’s also almost certainly hidden a lot of it away somewhere – I mean: he probably did so a very long time ago. He used his time as a Prosecutor to protect the Russian mob while prosecuting the Italian mob. I don’t doubt he knows more about laundering and hiding money than nearly anyone else.
prostratedragon
@scav: A force or forcing deck, as shown in The Manchurian Candidate.
Dmbeaster
Bankruptcy protection will not apply to post filing defamation.
The defamation judgment is probably nondischargable. I have done these cases, and it is a little complicated to explain, but the punitive damage awards may establish this easily.
Dmbeaster
@Butch: It depends, but it probably will not. I have done these cases [523(a)(6)] and it is difficult to explain it exactly. The punitive damage awards probably decide the issue, or else you have a separate trial in bankruptcy concerning wilful and malicious injury. Defamation by itself would not automatically qualify.
Ruckus
The only thing of value that he controls is his ability to flip on Trump. Will he or will he just continue to run up new instances of defamation?
SFBII is showing pretty strong decline in what little mental capability he ever had. Seems like the only thing still working is his ability to defame pretty much anyone and pretty much everyone. I imagine that his defaming people is how he manages to continue to think he’s so special, while every second of every day he shows that the only thing special about him is his ability to be an obnoxious shit, every second of every day.
mrmoshpotato
That’s so sad. Oh, wait, no it isn’t.
OlFroth
Too bad this kind of judgement cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.
Barbara
@OlFroth: Even if assets can’t be shielded their distribution will be held up through the bankruptcy process, which will effectively put a hold on anything he owns being paid out without bankruptcy court oversight. I am not a bankruptcy attorney by any means but bankruptcy courts still get heavily involved even where someone is subject to non-dischargeable debts. It will stall the collection, although there is a benefit of requiring him to list all of his assets. Of course, people have been known to lie about that too.
Anonymous at Work
You can’t discharge intentional affliction of emotional harm. And, AND, Giuliani is asking the court to shield him and has to provide proof of bankruptcy. Remember that he was sanctioned by the judge for failing to provide that same material. This could get interesting.