Dr. Maria Ryan unveils 'Rudy Coffee' on May 14, 2024 (X/screengrab)
From covfefe to coffee.
Rudy Giuliani's bankruptcy saga took a turn for the worse on Tuesday as the judge revealed he was "disturbed about the status of this case" and dismayed by the former NYC mayor's "troubling attitude vis-à-vis the law and the court system," resulting in a refusal to allow the debtor to appeal the $146 million defamation judgment that led to Chapter 11 proceedings. On the same day the judge criticized his conduct, Giuliani launched a new business, a project that may amount to a hill of coffee beans in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in estimated liabilities.
The first pitch for "Rudy.Coffee" came courtesy of Dr. Maria Ryan, Giuliani's fellow recently fired WABC radio co-host.
https://t.co/9ZXtDxyWdg https://t.co/BdgkwOMiKC
— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) May 14, 2024
"Hi, you caught me getting my coffee. I'm Dr. Maria. Many of you know me as a hospital CEO, a board certified nurse practitioner, radio host, TV host, fierce patient advocate," Ryan said. "I'm really looking to improve my health. I do know coffee has health benefits."
Ryan explained that she and Giuliani "collaborated" on the Rudy.Coffee concept as an alternative to "little plastic things that are already ground" and hurt her stomach.
"I was looking for products that had non-GMO, really organic bean farms, and I couldn't find any," she said. "So, Rudy Giuliani and I collaborated and we have Rudy.Coffee coming to your home soon."
The three coffee bags each have Giuliani's face on them — one a decaf option showing Giuliani "Enjoying Life" on the beach and another a dark roast option called "Fighting for Justice." The website claimed that Giuliani will autograph the "first 100 bags" to be shipped as soon as June.
Rudy Coffee is now a thing, apparently (as seen on the product's website)
"Are you bold? Do you like bold coffee? This coffee is dedicated to the most respected lawyer and prosecutor of the twentieth and twenty-first century," said one site sales pitch for the "Fighting for Justice" brew.
In court Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane expressed sympathy for creditors and lawyers who have complained that Giuliani has essentially ground proceedings to a halt through delay tactics (see: the failed attempt to appeal the Georgia election workers defamation judgment) and his failures to timely file "monthly operating reports," largely leaving creditors and the judge "in the dark."
A lawyer for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss went so far as to allege in court that Giuliani got fired on purpose from WABC by "deliberately flouting his employer's restrictions" on 2020 election talk.
Giuliani has claimed that is not true.
"I never promised not to talk about the 2020 election. It's the number one topic I discussed on air. I would NEVER agree to such overly-broad restrictions on speech," Giuliani said. "I wish [WABC owner] John [Catsimatidis] would be honest about what's going on here—he's caving to pressure from the Democrat Party machine."
Lawyers for creditors have described themselves as "on a hamster wheel trying to hold the Debtor accountable for his recurring and continuous misdeeds" — and the bankruptcy judge was clear Tuesday that would not let a Freeman appeal become an "impediment to the progress of the bankruptcy."
Earlier in the bankruptcy case, Giuliani convinced the judge not to immediately force him to sell his Florida condo, arguing that he was going to use the property to "diligently to grow his broadcast income" for the benefit of creditors who had blasted an "insufficient" and incomplete accounting of his finances.
It seems that the fledgling coffee business will serve the purpose of generating revenue so Giuliani can pay what he owes, whatever that number ends up being.
In a statement to Law&Crime on Giuliani's behalf, political advisor Ted Goodman said Giuliani is "regularly asked to partner with products and services as a trusted and respected public figure."
"He doesn't get behind anything he doesn't believe in, and as an avid consumer of coffee (due to his demanding work schedule) he's 100 percent behind this product and brand, and as they say, 'don't knock it until you try it,'" Goodman said.
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