Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, prosecutor and legal adviser to Donald Trump, was fired from New York on Tuesday after a court found that he repeatedly made false statements about Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.
A Manhattan appeals court ruled that Giuliani, who had his New York law license suspended in 2021 for making false statements during the election, is no longer allowed to practice law in the state, effective immediately.
“The seriousness of the defendant’s misconduct cannot be overstated,” the ruling read. Giuliani “abused” his position and “baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”
“By doing so, the defendant not only deliberately violated some of the basic principles of law, but also contributed to the national controversy that followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he has not repented,” the court wrote.
Giuliani said on Tuesday he was not surprised to lose his law license in his hometown, saying on social media site X that the case was “based on an activist complaint, full of false arguments.
The former mob prosecutor was admitted to the New York bar in 1969, but before Trump pleaded guilty in November 2020, Giuliani had not appeared in court as a lawyer since 1992, according to court records.
Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, said the man who was once called “America’s mayor” will appeal the “erroneous” federal court decision. He also called on others in the legal community to speak out against “this politically and ideologically corrupt decision.”
Giuliani’s lawyer Arthur Aidala was more moderate, saying his legal team was “obviously disappointed” but not surprised by the decision. He said “they are making a great effort” to prevent the dispersal but “they see the writing on the wall.”
Giuliani contested the trial last October and said he believed the claims he made on behalf of the Trump campaign were true, but the court, in its decision, said it was not convinced.
“Contrary to defendant’s allegations, there is nothing in the record before us to support the conclusion that defendant had no knowledge of the falsity of many of the statements he made, and that he had a strong faith belief that they were true,” the decision read.
Among other things, the court said it found that Giuliani “falsely and dishonestly” during the 2020 Presidential election that thousands of ballots were cast in the names of people who died in Philadelphia, including a ballot in the name of the late Joe Frazier. . He also lied about people being taken from Camden, New Jersey, to vote illegally in the Pennsylvania town, the court said.
“These false statements are designed to improperly bolster the defendant’s narrative that due to widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen from his client,” the decision read.
The dismissal comes amid growing grief for the 80-year-old Giuliani. In May, WABC suspended him and canceled his daily talk show because he refused to stop making false claims about the 2020 election.
Giuliani also faces the possibility of losing his law license in Washington. The board in May recommended that he be removed, although the court has the final say.
He also filed for bankruptcy last year after being ordered to pay $148 million in damages to two former Georgia election workers for falsehoods he spread about them and improved their lives with threats of racism and harassment.
On Monday, Giuliani asked a federal judge to change his bankruptcy case from reorganization to liquidation, which would mean most of his assets would be sold to help pay what he owes. At the end of May, he had about $94,000 in cash while his company, Giuliani Communications, had about $237,000 in the bank, according to court documents.
Giuliani is also facing criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona for his role in the 2020 election rigging effort. He denied both charges.
He was charged in Georgia with making false statements and soliciting false testimony, conspiring to forge documents and soliciting state lawmakers to violate their oath of office to nominate another group of Trump-supporting voters.
The Arizona lawsuit accuses Giuliani of pressuring Maricopa County officials and state legislators to change the outcome of Arizona’s results and encouraging Republican voters in the state to vote for Trump in December 2020.
Giuliani built his public persona through law enforcement, as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan in the 1980s, when he went after mobsters, powerbrokers and others. A reputation for law and order helped him enter politics, ruling a populous United States city plagued by high crime rates.
The Republican was credited with holding the city together after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when two hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing more than 2,700 people.
But after unsuccessful runs for the US Senate and the presidency, and a lucrative career as a globetrotting consultant, Giuliani shattered his image as a moderate who could get along with Democrats as he became one of Trump’s staunchest defenders.
He was the first spokesperson for Trump’s false allegations of election fraud after the 2020 vote, standing awkwardly at a press conference in front of Four Seasons Total Landscaping outside Philadelphia saying the campaign would challenge what he said was a massive conspiracy by Joe Biden and other Democrats. .
The lies surrounding the election results helped push an angry mob of pro-Trump protesters to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the confirmation of Biden’s victory.
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