Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump‘s former lawyer, has been permanently disbarred in Washington, D.C., as the fallout from the former president’s illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 Presidential election continues in Trump’s inner circle. News that Giuliani was disbarred comes just months after Giuliani lost his legal license in New York state.
As Trump’s lawyer in 2020, Giuliani violated the terms of his legal license by making “utterly false” claims in a lawsuit he filed about the Pennsylvania vote count in the presidential election that year, according to the D.C. Court of Appeals. Reportedly, Giuliani’s Pennsylvania lawsuit alleged that election boards intentionally counted mail-in ballots to benefit Biden, without ever having provided proof of the claim.
The D.C. Court of Appeals also said Giuliani pressured a federal judge to throw out hundreds of thousands of legitimate votes in Pennsylvania with no evidence that there was a scheme to steal the election from Trump, or any proof that the mail-in ballots were illegitimate.
Giuliani’s 2020 Pennsylvania court case challenging the election was thrown out, and tellingly, Giuliani offered no response to the D.C. Court of Appeals query as to why he should not be disbarred, according to The Washington Post.
The D.C. disbarment’s New York connection
According to CNN, the D.C. Court of Appeals’ decision to disbar Rudy Giuliani stemmed from a New York ethics investigation into Giuliani’s efforts to interfere in the 2020 election. That New York investigation led to Giuliani losing his legal license and legal practice in the state, and based on the reciprocal relationship between the D.C. and New York bar, Giuliani will now be disbarred in New York state, too.
About the D.C. court’s decision to disbar Giuliani, Giuliani spokesperson Ted Goodman said, “This is an absolute travesty and a total miscarriage of justice. Members of the legal community who want to protect the integrity of our justice system should immediately speak out against this partisan, politically motivated decision.”
Giuliani had challenged an earlier D.C. bar inquiry related to the election. Politico says it’s unclear why he failed to respond to the D.C. court’s most recent request, or to argue in any formal way that he should not be disbarred.
Giuliani’s Arizona and Georgia cases
Giuliani is just one of several former members of Trump’s inner circle facing mounting legal problems after their efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election. Giuliani was also indicted in Arizona for illegally interfering in the election, according to Forbes. He also faces legal action in Georgia, where two election workers sued Giuliani for defamation after he falsely alleged they were involved in a voter fraud conspiracy.
These are just a few of many lawsuits facing the former New York mayor, including a Hunter Biden suit stemming from digital information recovered from Biden’s laptop. Noelle Dunphy, a former colleague, has also sued Giuliani for sexual misconduct. According to the Brennan Center, voter fraud, as Giuliani has alleged, is rare. Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, a voting rights advocacy group, says judges have ruled that claims of widespread voter fraud in 2020 are “without merit.”
Published: Sep 26, 2024 02:55 pm