Dozens of legal bigshots have called for Rudy Giuliani’s disbarment in New York in a 49-page complaint detailing the former mayor’s many lies about the 2020 election.
The letter from Lawyers Defending American Democracy represents the most serious threat yet to Giuliani’s law license. The complaint dated Wednesday also served as a stark reminder of how far Giuliani has fallen since he achieved notoriety as the mafia-busting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the 1980s.
Now many legal eagles — including former federal judges, an ex-U.S. attorney and former state attorneys general — call him an embarrassment to the profession.
The letter focuses on Giuliani’s promotion — both in and out of court — of the baseless conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen for President Biden while acting as personal attorney for former President Donald Trump.
“Lawyers have a legal responsibility to enforce the rule of law. There must be accountability for misconduct which is so obvious and consequential. He claimed Mr. Trump was a victim when he was the one trying to disenfranchise tens of millions of American voters,” said Scott Harshbarger, chairman of the legal group and former Massachusetts Attorney General.
Giuliani’s now-notorious remark prior to the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, “Let’s have trial by combat!” is cited in the complaint sent to the Grievance Committee of the New York court system. If the committee determines Giuliani should be disbarred, it makes a referral to a mid-level Appeals Court in Manhattan that then conducts its own inquiry. The process routinely takes more than a year.
“No one knew better than Mr. Giuliani, who once headed our nation’s greatest prosecuting offices, what is and is not proof of fraud. Rather than stepping back from lying at the President’s bidding, as other lawyers did, he aided and abetted him,” said Christine Chung, a former federal prosecutor in the storied Manhattan office Giuliani once ran.
The ex-mayor’s violations of the rules of professional conduct include advancing blatantly bogus legal arguments, dishonesty and attacks on the rule of law, the complaint charges. State Sen. Brad Hoylman filed a separate complaint last week seeking Giuliani’s disbarment due to his role inciting the Capitol riot.
Giuliani was not fazed by the latest challenge to his integrity.
“They have the propaganda version of the truth and I interviewed and presented real evidence … people, video, audio, documents,” Giuliani texted the Daily News.
With Chris Sommerfeldt
