Rudy Giuliani, Working Pro Bono for Trump, Says He Can't Keep Up With Wife's Expenses
Rudolph Giuliani, the public face of President Donald Trump's legal team, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday to deal with his own legal issues: a divorce from his third wife, who claims that the well-heeled former New York City mayor has cut her off financially.
November 07, 2018 at 02:29 PM
4 minute read
Rudolph Giuliani, the public face of President Donald Trump's legal team, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday to deal with his own legal issues: a divorce from his third wife, who claims that the well-heeled former New York City mayor has cut her off financially.
Since Giuliani, who served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1983 to 1989, split with Greenberg Traurig this past spring, he has been working pro bono for Trump and has taken on the task of mounting legal defenses for Trump, often in front of television cameras.
In recent months, Giuliani, 74, has worked on behalf of a lobbying firm seeking to influence the Romanian government on how it approaches ethics enforcement and, according to a report from ProPublica and WNYC, been making frequent trips to Russia, Armenia and Ukraine.
All told, Giuliani made $9.5 million last year, said Bernard Clair of Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Lans & Rottenstreich, who represents Giuliani's estranged wife, in a hearing before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Katz.
The hearing, in which Clair laid out information from the couple's financial records, provided a glimpse into the former mayor's lavish lifestyle—one that includes $12,012 spent on cigars from April to August, as well as more than $7,000 on ink pens.
In that period, Giuliani spent almost $900,000, of which a small portion was charged to a Greenberg Traurig credit card. Giuliani made between $4 million and $6 million while at the firm, Clair said.
But Clair said that, since Giuliani started working full-time for Trump, Giuliani appears to have developed “sudden income deficit syndrome” in the case of his wife, but that he has spent six figures to support his alleged mistress and her family, including paying for their travel expenses.
“My client doesn't care about romantic interest or otherwise, she really doesn't,” Clair said. “What she cares about is that these expenses, for these people, are continuing while she's not received any direct support since August,” Clair said.
Judith Giuliani, who married Rudolph Giuliani in 2003, seeks $63,000 in monthly support as well as costs associated with the couple's six properties, which includes a Park Avenue apartment and two condominiums in Palm Beach, Florida, and costs for country club memberships.
Faith Miller of Miller Zeiderman & Wiederkehr, who represents Rudolph Giuliani in the matter, said that Giuliani has spent $150,000 each month on the couple's living expenses, calling Clair's characterization of her client “insulting.”
“If he chooses to work without compensation for the president, I submit that he should be entitled to do so,” Miller said.
Rudolph Giuliani moved in the case to impose a gag order on his estranged wife; Miller said that allowing his wife to discuss the couple's divorce publicly could “impact his ability to make a living.”
Katz said that the potential effects of Judith Giuliani discussing the case on her husband's income is not an appropriate legal standard for imposing a gag order, but told the parties that he is “not particularly interested in having the case litigated in the press.”
Judith Giuliani filed for divorce in April, just days after he took a tour of a New Hampshire hospital run by his alleged mistress, Maria Ryan, which a local ABC affiliate filmed for a news segment.
After the visit, Rudolph Giuliani and Ryan reportedly took a trip together to a resort hotel.
Despite their feuding over finances, the Giulianis appeared cordial in the courtroom: when she entered, Judith Giuliani approached Rudolph Giuliani, who was wearing a black suit with pinstripes, shook his hand and said, “Nice to see you.”
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