Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani leaves the federal courthouse in Washington, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana).
Rudy Giuliani is pleading for cash in the form of public donations, claiming he cannot afford to feed himself as a result of the $148 million judgment against him for defaming two Georgia election workers following Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.
The former New York City mayor has asserted twice in the last week that he’s at risk of going hungry due to financial troubles.
“Wilkie Farr Law Firm is filled with a distorted left wing hate and vitriol,” Giuliani posted to X, formerly Twitter, just after midnight on Tuesday. “Judge Liman doesn’t seem to know the exemptions. They have seized all my money which wasn’t much. I need legal representation against these evil people. I can’t buy food.”
Attorneys from Wilkie Farr represent Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, the Georgia election workers who were targeted by Giuliani’s false claims of election fraud and were awarded the astronomical judgment from Giuliani in December 2023. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis J. Liman is the Trump-appointed jurist presiding over Giuliani’s case in the Southern District of New York.
Giuliani had previously levied similar attacks on the law firm and judge with a Sunday morning post to X.
“Wilkie Farr Law firm and Judge Liman are trying to inhibit me from making a living,” Giuliani wrote. “They seized my measly checking account so I can’t buy food. Help me fight.”
Both posts included a link to GiveSendGo — a Catholic crowdfunding website known for allowing far-right causes and neo-Nazis to raise money — where the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has a page titled “Rudy Giuliani Defense.”
“America’s Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, has been persecuted to the highest level through law fare due to his support of President Donald Trump,” the page states. “Therefore, we are raising funds to go directly to his legal defense. Please join us in this effort!”
The GiveSendGo page says that all of the funds received will go toward the “Rudy Giuliani Freedom Fund.” The page had raised more than $120,000 of its $250,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon.
Giuliani has dragged his feet in complying with court orders stemming from the massive defamation judgment. When he finally turned over his Manhattan apartment on Oct. 31, attorneys for Freeman and Moss said Giuliani had “secreted away” all of the valuable property inside that he was required to surrender.
“Save for some rugs, a dining room table, some stray pieces of small furniture and inexpensive wall art, and a handful of smaller items like dishes and stereo equipment, the Apartment has been emptied of all of its contents,” attorneys wrote in court filings earlier this month.
Giuliani on Nov. 5 also showed up to vote at a Florida polling station driving a classic Mercedes convertible once owned by actress Lauren Bacall which the court had ordered him to surrender to Moss and Freeman. Other assets Giuliani is required to turn over include 26 luxury watches and a swath of signed sports memorabilia.
Liman scolded Giuliani during an in-person hearing last week and pushed back against claims from his attorney that the plaintiffs were actively “vindictive” in seeking possession of a watch left to Giuliani by his grandfather.
“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” the Liman replied — adding that family heirlooms are used to settle court-ordered debts “every day.”
“If they owe a debt, they have to pay the debt,” Liman went on. “The law is the law. I don’t apply it differently to your client.”
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