This week in schadenfreude

[Scooter]

Rudy Giuliani Blasts Trump Campaign over Failure to Pay Him

Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's former personal attorney, said this week he is owed $2 million in legal fees from the former president's campaign.

Speaking at a New York bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday, Giuliani said Trump's campaign team never paid him for work he did after the November 2020 election, when was trying to prove baseless claims that Trump lost the race to President Joe Biden because of widespread voter fraud.

Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2023 shortly after he was ordered to pay $148 million in defamation damages to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. The two former Georgia election workers were targeted by Giuliani and Trump supporters in connection with the election fraud claims.

Giuliani said during the meeting with his creditors at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York that his claim about the money he is owed is against the Trump campaign and the Republican National Campaign, not against Trump himself, Bloomberg Law reported.

"At that point, [Trump] had a tremendous number of complaints that there had been fraud in the election," Giuliani told the court, according to a Mediaite report. "He asked me to lead that effort."

He continued: "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. (what gave you the idea that you would be treated any better than other creditors Trump had stiffed?) When we submitted the invoice for payment, they just paid the expenses. Not all but most. They never paid the legal fees."

Giuliani said the legal work fees he is allegedly owed could prove critical as he tries to resolve his personal bankruptcy situation.

Trump's campaign team has been contacted for comment via email.

n addition to bankruptcy, Giuliani is facing a host of financial difficulties. Last September, Robert Costello, his former lawyer, sued him over claims the former mayor owes him more than $1.36 million in unpaid legal fees.

The same month, Hunter Biden, the president's son, sued Giuliani and Costello over claims they carried out a "total annihilation" of his privacy after accessing and sharing personal data recovered from his laptop, which had been left at a repair shop in Delaware.

Giuliani is also being sued by Noelle Dunphy, a former employee who alleges Giuliani sexually abused her and owes her $2 million in back wages. Giuliani has denied the allegations.

In a statement, Ted Goodman, a spokesman for Giuliani, said the former mayor is the victim of political persecution.

"The only reason we're here today is because Mayor Rudy Giuliani has the courage to speak up and take on the permanent Washington political class, and he refuses to be unfairly censored or bullied into silence," Goodman said.

The reason you're here today is that you chose to work with a huckster, and you stupidly imagined that somehow he would treat you better than he treated everyone else.

Too bad, so sad.

[BoSoxGal]

Meanwhile Trump was threatening to sic Russia on the NATO countries who ‘don’t pay up,’ exhorting them that ‘c’mon, you’ve gotta pay your bills!’

[Burning Petard]

That is part of Trump's charisma -- he famous for being so generous and loyal to his underlings and always pays his bills before they come due.

As I listened to the Supremes about the 14th amendment on the radio last week, there was lots of talk about participation in insurrection, not so much about giving aid and comfort. Now that former and perhaps future CinC of the US military announced that he would not support our NATO allies unless they showed him the money first, I wonder how HE defines 'aid and comfort to the enemy' , the constitutional definition of treason?

I suppose if he supports them then they cannot be the enemy. Sort of a corollary of Dick Cheney's definition of torture. We don't do torture. If we do it, it ain't torture.

snailgate.

[Scooter]

Conservative dad moved to Russia to get his kids away from 'woke' — now he's been sent to war
This family of five moved to an oligarchy to escape *checks notes* lesbians existing.

A conservative Texas family moved to Russia to escape “woke” culture and get their children away from queer people, but they’re now regretting their choice after the father was sent to the front line of the war with Ukraine.

In a YouTube video titled, “Why we moved to Russia,” wife DeAnna Huffman admitted that the family packed up their lives and moved to a conservative foreign country because they wanted to “be away from the things that we feel are disrupting our children’s lives” while showing pictures of drag queens, Pride parades, headlines about children’s TV shows with queer characters, and LGBTQ+ kid’s books.

But according to The Telegraph, the family’s attempt to escape “woke” America, has landed father Derek Huffman in the Russian military.

The 46-year-old father of three daughters moved his family to Istra, 25 miles outside of Moscow, through Russia’s “shared values” visa program that is meant to attract foreigners who “embrace Russian values” and want to escape “the harmful effects of Western neoliberal policies.”

Once in Russia, Derek Huffman agreed to join the military as a non-combatant but was quickly sent “near” the front line in Ukraine, despite having no experience as a soldier, his wife said in one of their videos.

“Unfortunately, he feels like he’s being thrown to the wolves right now, and he’s kind of having to lean on faith, and that’s what we’re all doing,” DeAnna Huffman admitted in one of her vlogs for the family’s YouTube channel “Huffman Time.”

Although Derek Huffman posted a short video telling his family he missed them while wearing army fatigues on Father’s Day, there have been no new messages from him since then. ButThe Telegraph reports that on July 20, there was a link posted on their channel to a Telegram group requesting help from the U.S. government, though the message was subsequently deleted, and it is unclear who created it.

"We are asking the United States government to save this family,” read the single message in the group, along with a photo of DeAnna Huffman and her daughters crying.

While running away to Russia because of your anti-LGBTQ+ views seems like an extreme choice, the Huffmans are not the first Christian family to do so. Last year, Arend and Anneesa Feenstra packed up their 10 children and headed to Russia to escape “left-wing ideology,” and the “trans” and “LGBTQ+” community in Canada, whom they didn’t want near their children.

The Huffmans left the United States for very similar reasons, telling Russia Today that they were sick of the public education system’s acceptance of LGBTQ+ people.

“The final straw was when we found out my daughter Sophia learnt about lesbians from a girl in her class. She didn’t fully understand it, but for us, that was enough to realize something had to change,” Derek Huffman said.

In a video update while he was in military training, DeAnna Huffman admitted to struggling without her husband and talked openly about Derek losing weight because of the military food and training three times per day.

“I tell you, I’ve been pushed beyond my limits, further than any time in my whole life. The Russian army is no joke,” Derek Huffman said.

This is a change of tune from an earlier video where he talked about risking his life to “earn a place here in Russia.”

“The point of this act for me is to earn a place here in Russia. If I risk myself for our new country, no one will say that I am not a part of it. Unlike migrants in America who come there just like that, do not assimilate, and at the same time want free handouts,” said Derek, who according to his wife has a limited grasp on the Russian language.

[Big RR]

Or if they choose to play along, "the Washington Asskissers" or "Enemies of Liberty"