Giuliani’s Creditors Mull Suing Trump Over Unpaid Legal Fees

Rudolph Giuliani’s creditors are preparing to investigate claims the former New York City mayor may hold against Donald Trump over unpaid legal fees, which could ultimately lead to a bankruptcy court lawsuit, according to sources.

An official committee appointed to represent Giuliani’s unsecured creditors will probe arrangements that Giuliani had with the former US president for his legal services. The investigation, to be launched as part of Giuliani’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, could force the filing of a lawsuit against Trump by Giuliani’s bankruptcy estate, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The creditors’ plans to press legal action against Trump was first reported by The Independent.

Giuliani, who filed for bankruptcy last year after being ordered to pay $148 million to two Georgia poll workers, told creditors at a meeting in February that he’s still owed roughly $2 million in legal fees for work on Trump’s 2020 campaign and efforts to overturn the election results.

Giuliani insisted at the time that his claim for unpaid fees is against the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee—not the former president personally. But in a Feb. 27 court filing listing his assets, Giuliani noted a “possible claim for unpaid legal fees against Donald J. Trump.”

The creditors’ committee has several witnesses and could move to sue Trump on behalf of the bankruptcy estate if Giuliani is unwilling to, sources familiar with the matter said.

It’s unlikely that Giuliani would be willing to bring a legal action directly against Trump without being compelled, former Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said in an interview with Bloomberg Law.

“I don’t think he’ll go and sue Trump unless he’s forced to,” said Parnas. “If he loses the MAGA crowd that supports him and Trump, he has no way of making money.”

A spokesman for Giuliani didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Giuliani, who sits in bankruptcy with an estimated $10.6 million in assets against almost $153 million in liabilities, has previously asserted that he worked for Trump on impeachment-related legal matters on a pro bono basis. But Parnas said Giuliani on more than one occasion mentioned that he was supposed to be earning about $20,000 a day working on Trump’s behalf, as was previously reported by The New York Times.

The longtime Trump adviser filed for bankruptcy in December after losing a judgment for falsely accusing two Georgia election workers of committing election fraud.

Giuliani has promised to appeal the December verdict. Meanwhile, the former mayor and one-time federal prosecutor is also entangled in several other lawsuits, including one for defamation brought by Hunter Biden and a sexual harassment case filed by former associate Noelle Dunphy.

The case is In re Rudolph W. Giuliani, Bankr. S.D.N.Y., No. 23-12055, 3/6/24.