NEW YORK – Rudy Giuliani’s law license was suspended in New York state on Thursday for making “demonstrably false and misleading statements” about the 2020 election, a court filing shows.
A New York appellate court issued the ruling after a disciplinary panel found the former New York City mayor made false statements while serving as Donald Trump's lawyer as the former president mounted a failed legal challenge to the 2020 presidential election results.
The court found Giuliani “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.”
Giuliani helped lead Trump's legal challenge to the election results, claiming without evidence that there was voter fraud and that voting machines had been rigged.
The court's 33-page decision stated Giuliani's conduct "immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law, pending further proceedings before the Attorney Grievance Committee."
The ruling will prevent Giuliani from representing clients as a lawyer.
Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman, chair of the New York Senate Judiciary Committee who formally submitted a complaint calling for Giuliani's license to practice law to be revoked, applauded the ruling.
"I'm glad the Attorney Grievance Committee agreed with my formal complaint that Rudy Giuliani is no longer qualified to practice law in New York," Hoylman said in a statement. "The profession of law is a sacred and noble one. 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."
Giuliani's attorneys said in a statement that it was “unprecedented” for Giuliani to be suspended before “being afforded a hearing on the issues that are alleged.”
“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,” attorneys Barry Kamins and John Leventhal wrote.
READ THE COURT'S DECISION:
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