Rudy Giuliani's Law License Suspended in New York

Court says he lied while trying to overturn the 2020 election
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 24, 2021 11:23 AM CDT
Rudy Giuliani's Law License Suspended in New York
Rudy Giuliani can't practice as an attorney in New York.   (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

An appeals court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race, per the AP. An attorney disciplinary committee said in its motion to suspend Giuliani’s license that there was “uncontroverted evidence” that Giuliani made false statements to the courts, the public, and lawmakers as he pushed theories that the election was stolen through fraud. “This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election,” the committee wrote. “The hallmark of our democracy is predicated on free and fair elections. False statements intended to foment a loss of confidence in our elections and resulting loss of confidence in government generally damage the proper functioning of a free society.”

The ruling, signed Thursday, will prevent Giuliani from representing clients as a lawyer. In the decision, the committee wrote that Giuliani “communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large” as a lawyer for Trump. Giuliani had claimed that the investigation into his conduct violated his First Amendment right of free speech and that he did not knowingly make false statements, according to the decision. The court rejected those arguments, noting that in Pennsylvania, Giuliani failed to “provide a scintilla of evidence for any of the varying and wildly inconsistent numbers of dead people he factually represented voted in Philadelphia during the 2020 presidential election.” A message seeking comment about the ruling was sent Thursday to Giuliani and his lawyer. (More Rudy Giuliani stories.)

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