NEW YORK _ Rudy Giuliani works for the billionaire in the White House for free and gets other clients to cover his expenses, an attorney for Giuliani's estranged wife said Thursday during a hearing that revealed details about the former mayor's strained finances.
The allegations about how Giuliani covers expenses associated with his unpaid work for President Donald Trump emerged during a contentious divorce hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court. At one point Judith Giuliani slammed her first on the table in anger and was admonished by Justice Michael Katz.
"Not only does he work for free, all of his expenses, every time he goes down to Washington, D.C., every time he travels for the president, it comes out of his own pocket. And he wont say how much it's costing him," said Bernard Clair, an attorney for Judith Giuliani.
"What he says typically is if he's going to work for the president, he bundles, for lack of a better word, clients who do have to reimburse him.
"The Warsaw trip is for the president, but it's also for someone else because he's giving a speech," Clair said as an example of Giuliani's unpaid work for Trump.
Rudy and Judith face a monthlong divorce trial in January. The couple are worth $30 million and have multiple homes in the Hamptons and Florida. They also have a co-op apartment on 66th Street, though the board of the building is seeking to evict them due to $77,000 in unpaid fees, Giuliani attorney Faith Miller said. They're feuding over a $5 million joint account.
The fight has created such financial strain that the former New York mayor had to take a $100,000 loan from prominent Trump attorney Marc Mukasey. Most of the loan has been repaid, Giuliani said.
Judith Giuliani's legal team argues that her husband is misleading the court about his income while they fight over money.
Giuliani had received a job offer from the law firm Bainbridge for $6 million, Clair said. He attended the recent Red Sox-Yankees game in London. He claimed in a deposition that the cost of that trip was covered by a podcast the former mayor is in talks to launch, Clair said. Giuliani also spent $40,000 on dental work for the son of his new flame, Maria Ryan, and had paid a $50,000 fee to apply for membership to a private flight company called "Jet Smarter," Clair said.
The former mayor's attorney, meanwhile, argued Giuliani was doing his best to maintain the lifestyle both he and his estranged wife enjoy.
"The burn rate to support Ms. Giuliani's lifestyle and the court's order is approximately $110,000 per month before he has a cup of coffee," Miller said.
"Ms. Giuliani testified she's 64 years old and far too old to work. She's a registered nurse! There's absolutely no reason he should feel financial pressure at this stage of his life with the estate he's amassed."
