Rudy Giuliani was handed an interim suspension of his New York license to practice law on Thursday, June 24, 2021, pending disciplinary proceedings that could lead to his permanent disbarment, CNN has just reported (see story here).
The judges hearing a disciplinary complaint against Giuliani consider his lying about the 2020 election to be extremely serious, using terms like “incredibly serious” and “immediate threat to the public” to describe his post-election conduct, which they said is causing “damage [to] the proper functioning of a free society.”
Lawyers can’t lie to courts, and the judges determined that 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.”
While much of Giuliani’s lying occurred outside courtrooms, the judges appear to be taking his press conferences and media appearances into consideration, the likely rational being that what ordinarily would be construed as a lawyer exercising his citizen’s right of free speech was, in his case, inextricably linked to his representation of Trump in the latter’s election disputes. Giuliani wasn’t just a member of Trump’s campaign team; he was Trump’s attorney of record in a number of election-related lawsuits, and his public statements can easily be seen as an extension of his legal representation.
The attorneys representing Giuliani in the disciplinary case conceded he spread falsehoods, but alleged his lies were inadvertent because Giuliani didn’t know they were untrue. The judges rebuffed this argument, noting that “Giuliani failed to provide any source at all for statements he made” about the election.
The judges also said his lying hasn’t stopped, and clearly signaled that Giuliani faces disbarment. “We find that there is evidence of continuing misconduct, the underlying offense is incredibly serious, and the uncontroverted misconduct in itself will likely result in substantial permanent sanctions at the conclusion of these disciplinary proceedings,” they wrote in their interim suspension order.
Meanwhile, while that’s going on in New York, Giuliani also is being sued for defamation by a voting machine company, and faces a hearing in a D.C. court on Thursday afternoon in that case, which could result in a judgment against him for large monetary damages.
Today’s news in the legal actions against Giuliani coincides with the first Capitol riot sentencings, which involve rioters facing less serious charges who accepted plea bargains. So far, none of these individuals have drawn jail terms, but that seems likely to change with respect to those who may eventually be convicted of more serious charges, some of whom are still in jail because judges consider them a continuing threat to society.
It’s been less than six months since rabid Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, injured over 100 police officers, caused 5 deaths, and threatened the lives of public officials in a violent attempt to overthrow our government, and the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they also grind inexorably. It’s important those being held to account get fair hearings and due process.
But it’s also important that those who tried to overthrow our democracy be held accountable, and as the proceedings against Giuliani and Capitol rioters show, things appear to be moving in that direction.