Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City who was former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer during much of his time in the White House, has been stripped of his ability to practice law in his home state due to his repeatedly peddling false claims about the 2020 presidential election.
After Giuliani was initially suspended from practicing law in New York in 2021 pending a review of his actions, a panel of judges on New York’s Appellate Division First Department rendered a decision on Tuesday to revoke Giuliani’s law license.
“The disciplinary charges stem from the allegations that respondent communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers, and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020,” the panel said. “These false statements were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client.”
Notably, the panel of judges added that Giuliani’s behavior during a hearing regarding his eligibility to practice law in the state also confirmed that he should be disbarred, although it only played a small part in their decision. Giuliani was “disruptive and disrespectful” in front of the panel, the judges said.
But more importantly, the former mayor “flagrantly misused” his position as Trump’s lawyer, and “deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession,” the panel concluded.
For months after his client, Trump, lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, Giuliani peddled the “big lie” — the false assertion that the election was stolen from Trump by the Biden campaign and allies — when he appeared before judges and legislatures.
As Time magazine has noted, Giuliani’s false statements were similar to those that ignited the violence at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify the 2020 election results.
The panel of judges took note of Giuliani’s role in the Capitol attack, noting that Giuliani “actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 presidential election.”
Giuliani has faced numerous other repercussions for his backing of Trump’s lies surrounding the election, including in the form of civil lawsuits from individuals he defamed. Most notoriously, Giuliani was successfully sued by two Black election workers in Georgia whom he falsely claimed were part of a plot against Trump, frequently using racist pejoratives while doing so, resulting in a $148 million judgment in their favor.
More recently, Giuliani was served criminal charges relating to his efforts to toss out the election results in the state of Arizona through his and the Trump campaign’s use of fake electors that were intended to disrupt the counting of Electoral College votes. Those charges were served to Giuliani during his birthday party in May.
Giuliani also faces the possibility that his Washington D.C law license, which is currently under review, could be revoked in the near future.
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