Judge Suggests He Is Likely to Dismiss Giuliani’s Bankruptcy Case

A federal judge on Wednesday said he was leaning toward dismissing Rudolph W. Giuliani’s request for bankruptcy protection after months in which the former New York mayor ignored court filing deadlines and evaded questions about his finances.

Should the judge follow through and dismiss the case, it would allow creditors to pursue foreclosures, repossessions and lawsuits that have been on hold for over six months as Mr. Giuliani, who served as a personal lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump, sought the protection of bankruptcy law.

In his latest shift in legal strategy, Mr. Giuliani himself asked the court in a filing on Wednesday morning, just minutes before a scheduled hearing, to dismiss his bankruptcy petition, which he filed after being held liable for $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgia election workers.

“I’m leaning toward dismissal, frankly, because I am concerned that the past is prologue,” Judge Sean H. Lane of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York said at the hearing, adding that he believed Mr. Giuliani’s lack of transparency with the court would continue.

Mr. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December, after a federal jury awarded the damages to the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.

His main goal in bankruptcy was to hold off paying them without having to post a bond while he appealed the judgment. But the bankruptcy court did not allow him to do this.