Rudy Giuliani claims Donald Trump’s campaign owes him $2m

Trump’s former lawyer was appearing in bankruptcy court after being ordered to pay $148m in damages over a defamation case

Rudy Giuliani told a federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee owe him roughly $2m for a spurious legal battle to overturn election results in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

The former president’s one-time attorney testified for the first time about his strained financial state on Wednesday, nearly two months after he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the wake of a $148m defamation judgment for his election lies.

“I wouldn’t be bankrupt, up until that,” he told the court.

But Mr Giuliani has declined to hold the former president accountable for what he says are unpaid legal fees,

Rudy Giuliani outside bankruptcy court in Manhattan on Wednesday (Alex Woodward/The Independent )

According to Mr Giuliani, Mr Trump asked him to “take over” his campaign legal staff in November 2020, as Trump-allied attorneys launched a failed effort to reverse election outcomes in states he lost.

“At that point, he had a tremendous number of complaints that there had been fraud in the election,” he said. “He asked me to lead that effort.”

He said his expenses were paid, but he “never got a salary.”

“Once I took over, it was my understanding that I would be paid by the campaign for my legal work and my expenses to be paid,” he added. “When we submitted the invoice for payment, they just paid the expenses. Not all but most. They never paid the legal fees.”

He said he never calculated how much he believes he is owed, but it’s likely $2m.

Mr Giuliani was found by a jury last year to have falsely claimed election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss wheeled a suitcase loaded with fraudulent ballots into a vote-counting centre and used a flash drive to manipulate the results to ensure Joe Biden’s victory.

Jurors found Mr Giuliani owes Ms Freeman and Ms Moss $16.2m and $16.99m respectively in compensatory damages, an additional $20m each for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a further $75m in punitive damages.

The three-hour hearing in New York on Wednesday combed through dozens of pages of financial statements, including his assets, income, debts and other obligations, including pending lawsuits for defamation and other allegations that could deal more financial blows to the former mayor.

Among his debts are almost $40,000 in golf club membership fees, according to filings, including $647 to Trump International Golf Club.

Speaking outside court after the hearing, Mr Giuliani told reporters that he has “nothing to hide.”

The Independent has requested comment from Mr Trump’s campaign.