NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is facing possible expulsion from the New York State Bar Association over remarks he made to the president’s supporters shortly before they stormed the U.S. Capitol Building last Wednesday.
The bar association says it received hundreds of complaints about Giuliani after he appeared before pro-Trump protesters and made remarks encouraging them to act out in violence.
“If we’re wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail,” Giuliani told the crowd. “Let’s have trial by combat.”
The New York State Bar Association has bylines that state “no person who advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States” shall remain a member of the organization. Therefore, the group is seeking to remove Giuliani from its ranks.
In a statement, the association said the former New York City mayor's words were “quite clearly were intended to encourage Trump supporters unhappy with the election’s outcome to take matters into their own hands.”
New York Rep. Modaire Jones, who had called on the association to investigate Giuliani, released a statement on Monday saying he was pleased to see the organization act swiftly.
“Rudy Giuliani is an embarrassment to attorneys everywhere.
Revoking his membership in the New York State Bar Association would send a powerful message that we will not tolerate incitement and sedition among our ranks,” Jones said. “But we can’t stop there. The New York State Bar must follow the Association’s footsteps and disbar Giuliani, ensuring that he will never again use his law degree to destroy lives and undermine our democracy.”
The organization says it has also received hundreds of complaints for Giuliani’s baseless efforts on behalf of President Trump to cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 presidential election.
The claims put forth by the president and his associates have been dismissed by each and every court in which they were brought.
On the violence at the Capitol Building, the New York State Bar Association said it was “nothing short of an attempted coup, intended to prevent the peaceful transition of power.”
The group added: “We cannot stand idly by and allow those intent on rending the fabric of our democracy to go unchecked.”
The New York Bar Association is a voluntary membership organization and removal from it is not the same as being disbarred and banned from practicing law, which can only be done in court.
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