A New York appellate court on Thursday suspended Rudy Giuliani’s law license after finding he made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements about last year’s election while serving as former President Donald Trump’s attorney.
In a 33-page decision, the court panel wrote: “We conclude that there is uncontroverted evidence that respondent 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.”
“These false statements were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client,” the ruling continued. “We conclude that respondent’s conduct immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law, pending further proceedings before the Attorney Grievance Committee.”
Giuliani and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News. A former U.S. Attorney and mayor of New York City, he can appeal the decision but can’t practice law at this time in New York.
The panel examined several comments made by Giuliani and the defenses he offered of them to the court, and rejected Giuliani’s argument that the investigation violated his First Amendment speech protections.
“This disciplinary proceeding concerns the professional restrictions imposed on respondent as an attorney to not knowingly misrepresent facts and make false statements in connection with his representation of a client,” the decision sates. “It is long recognized that ‘speech by an attorney is subject to greater regulation than speech by others.'”
The panel also reviewed false claims Giuliani made about the number of mail-in ballots requested in Pennsylvania. Giuliani’s defense was that he did not know those assertions were false and that a member of his “team” had gotten incorrect data from the state’s website.
But the court said: “There is simply no proof to support this explanation.”
“For instance, there is no affidavit from this supposed team member who is not identified by name or otherwise, nor is there any copy of the web page that purportedly listed the allegedly incorrect data,” the ruling said. “In fact, the only proof in this record is the official data on the Pennsylvania open data portal correctly listing the ballots requested as 3.08 million.”
The panel also cited comments Giuliani made in a Pennsylvania court last year. During that appearance, Giuliani said: “I don’t know what’s more serious than being denied your right to vote in a democracy.”
“We agree,” the panel wrote. “It is the very reason why espousing false factual information to large segments of the public as a means of discrediting the rights of legitimate voters is so immediately harmful to it and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law.”
Giuliani was at the forefront of Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, traveling across the country to argue the spurious claims of fraud before state lawmakers, courts and the public. The former mayor of New York City, Giuliani is also a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In April, federal agents executed search warrants on Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment and office to seize electronic devices as part of an investigation into his dealings in Ukraine.
After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the New York State Bar Association launched an inquiry into whether to remove Giuliani from its ranks.
Tom Winter contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
