Rudy Giuliani says he shouldn’t be forced to sell his $3.5 million Florida condo in a bankruptcy case — because he’ll need a place to record his podcasts once his Manhattan apartment is sold, court papers show.
The embattled former New York City Mayor filed papers Thursday opposing a bid by a group of creditors in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy case seeking to recoup their debts — specifically asking that he be forced to hawk his Palm Beach pad.
Giuliani’s legal team says he’s in the process of selling his East 66th Street apartment in Manhattan and plans to relocate full-time to his Sunshine State home — which he’ll use to “grow his broadcast income,” according to papers filed in Manhattan federal bankruptcy court by his lawyers.
This will help him to save money, too, since he won’t have to shell out rent on studio space for his radio show and podcasts, according to the filing, first reported by Law & Crime.
The ex-hizzoner’s only sources of income are Social Security benefits and the money from his shows, his lawyers say.
Meanwhile, Giuliani, 79, faces a mountain of debt, including a whopping $148 million civil judgment a jury ordered him to pay two former Georgia election workers.
Giuliani was found liable for defaming mother and daughter Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss by accusing them of committing voter fraud while counting ballots in Fulton County in the 2020 presidential election.
Giuliani — once known as “American’s Mayor” for how he handled the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack — says he might win an appeal of that judgment or at least get it drastically reduced, and therefore, it would be “premature” to sell his Palm Beach place now.
“It appears that the Committee [on Unsecured Creditors] is assuming that most if not all of the Freeman judgment will survive on appeal, and is proceeding as if all of the [Giuliani’s] assets need to be liquidated now to satisfy a potentially inflated claim,” the court papers read.
But Giuliani “could be irreparably harmed if the Florida residence is sold and later it turns out that the Freeman judgment is vacated,” the filing claimed.
The group of creditors say Giuliani is using “reckless abandon and improper judgment” in his effort to hold onto the Palm Beach place.
Giuliani’s lawyers countered that their client has a “valid business justification” to keep the property.
And Giuliani’s Big Apple pad is slated to be listed for $5 million on Sotheby’s soon, which will help to “significantly” lower his monthly costs, his lawyers noted.
In February, Giuliani argued in the bankruptcy case that the Trump 2020 campaign and the Republican National Committee still owed him $2 million in legal fees for his work in challenging Donald Trump’s election loss.
Giuliani is facing criminal charges alongside the former president for allegedly trying to overthrow the 2020 election result in the Peach State.
