State Court Suspends Giuliani from Practicing Law over False Statements about Trump’s 2020 Election Loss

Rudy Giuliani speaks at a news conference in November 2020 at the Republican National Committee about lawsuits contesting the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. (Photo by Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Rudy Giuliani, the former personal attorney for former President Donald Trump, was suspended Thursday from practicing law in New York.

Giuliani, who was also a New York City mayor and U.S. attorney, had propagated baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and tried to persuade state legislators to override the will of the voters during the 2020 presidential election, Yahoo News reports.

According to the report, a New York appellate court found that “there is uncontroverted evidence 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 re-election in 2020.”

CNBC, in its caption “Rudy Giuliani is suspended from practicing law in New York over false statements about Trump election loss “, provides the following highlights on the story:  

·         A New York court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in the state due to his “false and misleading statements” about Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.

·         The court said Giuliani’s conduct “immediately threatens the public interest.”

·         The suspension is a stunning blow to the former New York City mayor who once served as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, USA Today highlights the story as:

·         The court said Giuliani's misconduct deepened partisan divisions and inflamed tensions.

·         Giuliani argued that the disciplinary committee's investigation violated his free speech rights.

·         The misconduct cantered on statements Giuliani made to cast doubt on election results in 3 states.

In a 33-page decision, according to NBC News, the court panel wrote: "We conclude that there is uncontroverted evidence 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 re-election in 2020.

"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," the ruling continued.

"We conclude that respondent’s conduct immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law, pending further proceedings before the Attorney Grievance Committee."

As such, Giuliani can appeal the decision but can’t practice law at this time in the state. In a statement, his attorneys expressed disappointment with the ruling, which they pointed out took place before Giuliani could present his case in a hearing.

Rudy Giuliani suspended from practicing law in N.Y. over false 2020 election claims

"This is unprecedented as we believe that our client does not pose a present danger to the public interest," Giuliani attorneys John Leventhal and Barry Kamins submitted. "We believe that once the issues are fully explored at a hearing Mr. Giuliani will be reinstated as a valued member of the legal profession that he has served so well in his many capacities for so many years."

“The decision comes after an investigation into complaints of professional misconduct against Giuliani” the court said. “Attorneys who practice law in New York must abide by the state’s Rules of Conduct, which govern the appropriate conduct of lawyers.

According to the decision, it cites an instance in which Giuliani repeatedly stated that there were more Pennsylvania absentee ballots that came in during the election than were sent out, which was not true. “The true facts are that 3.08 million absentee ballots were mailed out before the general election, which more than accounted for the over 2.5 million mail-in ballots that were actually tallied,” the decision said.

Giuliani also claimed to have “hundreds of witnesses, experts, and investigative reports,” that proved there was fraud, “none of which have been provided or identified,” the court said.

Speaking to reporters outside his Manhattan home, NBC News reports that Giuliani called the ruling ‘ridiculous.

"How can they say I lied without a hearing?" he said. "They haven’t questioned me."

The panel examined several comments made by Giuliani and the defences he offered of them to the court, and rejected Giuliani's argument that the investigation violated his First Amendment speech protections.

"This disciplinary proceeding concerns the professional restrictions imposed on respondent as an attorney to not knowingly misrepresent facts and make false statements in connection with his representation of a client," the decision sates. "It is long recognized that 'speech by an attorney is subject to greater regulation than speech by others.'"

The court said Giuliani's misconduct deepened partisan divisions in the country and inflamed tensions that led to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, when Trump supporters stormed the building to disrupt a joint congressional session to count state-certified Electoral College votes, reports USA Today.

"The seriousness of respondent's uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated," the court said. "This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R. Biden."

When false statements are made by an attorney, the court said, "it also erodes the public's confidence in the integrity of attorneys admitted to our bar and damages the profession's role as a crucial source of reliable information."

The panel also reviewed false claims Giuliani made about the number of mail-in ballots requested in Pennsylvania. Giuliani's defense was that he did not know those assertions were false and that a member of his "team" had gotten incorrect data from the state's website, NBC News reports.

But the court said: "There is simply no proof to support this explanation."

"For instance, there is no affidavit from this supposed team member who is not identified by name or otherwise, nor is there any copy of the web page that purportedly listed the allegedly incorrect data," the ruling said. "In fact, the only proof in this record is the official data on the Pennsylvania open data portal correctly listing the ballots requested as 3.08 million."

The panel also pointed to unfounded claims he made about the number of undocumented noncitizens having voted in Arizona, which Giuliani stated was in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands on different occasions after the election.

"On their face, these numerical claims are so wildly divergent and irreconcilable, that they all cannot be true at the same time," the ruling said. "Some of the wild divergences were even stated by respondent in the very same sentence."

The panel also cited comments Giuliani made in a Pennsylvania court last year. During that appearance, Giuliani said, "I don’t know what’s more serious than being denied your right to vote in a democracy."

"We agree," the panel wrote. "It is the very reason why espousing false factual information to large segments of the public as a means of discrediting the rights of legitimate voters is so immediately harmful to it and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law."

In his defense, Giuliani contended this year that there was no reason for the panel to take action against him because the election fight is over, and "he has and will continue to exercise personal discipline to forbear from discussing these matters in public anymore."

The judges noted he's continued making false claims since then.

Giuliani was at the forefront of Trump's efforts to overturn the election, traveling across the country to argue the spurious claims of fraud before state lawmakers, courts and the public.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Trump expressed surprise at the decision and called Giuliani "the Eliot Ness of his generation," a nearly century-old reference to the prohibition agent who sought to arrest mobsters.

Trump said Giuliani has been targeted “because he has been fighting what has already been proven to be a Fraudulent Election.”

“It’s nothing by a Witch Hunt, and they should be ashamed of themselves,” said Trump, who called Giuliani a “great American Patriot,” “the greatest Mayor in the history” of New York, and “the Elliot Ness of his generation,” referring to the Prohibition agent depicted in the “The Untouchables” television series and film.

Giuliani’s son Andrew, a former White House aide to Trump who is currently seeking the Republican nomination for governor of New York, said that the suspension was “unacceptable” and the product of judges appointed by Democratic governors, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whom Andrew is seeking to unseat.

“This is going after one of President Trump’s closest allies, that’s exactly what this is,” Andrew Giuliani said in a video posted on his Twitter account. “I stand by my father. He did everything, ultimately, by the book.”

The complaint to the Attorney Grievance Committee was filed by Democratic state Sen. Brad Hoylman of Manhattan. “I’m glad” about the suspension, he said.

“The profession of law is a sacred and noble one,” Hoylman said in a statement. “And there can be no room in the profession for those who seek to undermine and undo the rule of law as Rudy Giuliani has so flagrantly done.”

The suspension order was issued hours before an attorney for Giuliani was scheduled to appear in Washington federal court for a hearing on his bid to dismiss a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against him by Dominion Voting Systems.

Giuliani’s claims about Dominion were cited by the suspension order.

That voting machine company accuses Giuliani of causing “irreparable harm” to the business while he “cashed in” on the “Big Lie” that the race had been stolen from Trump through widespread fraud.

Giuliani’s lawyer in that case filed a motion in April to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing in part that Dominion’s action not brought in accordance with proper procedural standards.

Dominion has filed separate, billion-dollar defamation lawsuits against My Pillow and that company’s pro-Trump CEO, Mike Lindell, and the pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.

In April, federal agents executed search warrants on Giuliani's Manhattan apartment and office to seize electronic devices as part of an investigation into his dealings in Ukraine.

After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the New York State Bar Association opened an inquiry into whether to remove Giuliani from its ranks. Following the suspension, the group announced it was "immediately removing Rudy Giuliani as a member of our association."

"Nothing means more to us than the integrity of the profession and we applaud the work of the attorney disciplinary committee in safeguarding the public," the group's president, T. Andrew Brown, said in a statement, adding that "it is equally important that we recognize the ongoing legal process and Rudy Giuliani’s right to defend himself."

"We will await the completion of the disciplinary process before taking further action,” Brown said.

New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Democrat who filed the initial complaint, said he was happy with the ruling.

"The profession of law is a sacred and noble one," he said. "And there can be no room in the profession for those who seek to undermine and undo the rule of law as Rudy Giuliani has so flagrantly done.”

The suspension was signed by a panel of five judges from the Appellate Division, New York's second highest-court. One judge, Judith Gische, has some history with Giuliani — she presided over the then-mayor's 2002 divorce from Donna Hanover, his second wife.

Still, the suspension marks yet another remarkable fall from grace for Giuliani, who was the U.S. attorney for Manhattan and later served two terms as the mayor of New York City, NPR reports.

Giuliani is also facing legal peril in an unrelated matter. He's under federal investigation over potential violations of foreign lobbying laws related to his work tied to Ukraine. FBI agents searched his Manhattan apartment and office in April and seized his computers and cell phones as part of that investigation.