Giuliani Ordered to Pay $1.36 Million in Legal fees

NEW YORK (AP) – it’s another blow to Rudy Giuliani‘s financial situation: A judge has ordered the former New York City mayor to pay $1.36 million in legal fees he accumulated during investigations into his efforts to overturn President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.

Judge Arthur Engoron made the ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by lawyer robert costello and the law firm Davidoff hutcher & Citron LLP. In granting summary judgment for Costello and the firm, engoron rejected Giuliani’s claim that he never received any bills for legal fees.

With interest, Giuliani owes nearly $1.6 million. He must also pay lawyer costs that Costello and the firm incurred in fighting to recoup his unpaid legal fees, the judge ruled.

Engoron, a Democrat, is the same Manhattan judge who last year ordered Trump to pay a massive civil penalty after finding that he had engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. The fine ballooned to more than $500 million with interest before an appeals court overturned it last month.

Giuliani’s spokesperson said the ex-mayor will appeal.

“The idea that Judge Arthur Engoron is permitted to sit on a case involving President Donald Trump’s good friend and former personal lawyer, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, flies in the face of justice and demonstrates the partisan political nature of this decision,” Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman said.

Messages seeking comment were left for Costello and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP.