America's Disbarred Lawyer

Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department

As to the sanction, the Referee’s disbarment recommendation is amply supported by the record and should be confirmed. The seriousness of respondent’s misconduct cannot be overstated. Respondent flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for former President Trump and his campaign, through which respondent repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public, the AGC, and this Court concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process. In so doing, respondent not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant. The aggravation cited by the Referee, which includes respondent’s disruptive and disrespectful behavior during the hearing, significantly outweighs the mitigation and only adds to the case for his disbarment.

Down goes Rudy

The Referee found that, in violation of rules 4.1, 8.4(c), and 8.4(h), respondent falsely and dishonestly asserted to the public that a vote was cast in the name of deceased boxing champion Joe Frazier in Philadelphia during the 2020 election. Respondent made the statements at issue during a November 7, 2020 press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping and again during four radio broadcasts in March and August 2021.

Respondent stipulated that “[a] vote was not cast in the name of deceased heavyweight boxer Joe Frazier [] during the 2020 election in Philadelphia.” Additionally, the Referee observed that respondent knew from documents submitted on the February 2021 motion to suspend him that Frazier’s eligibility to vote had been canceled within months of his 2011 death. Nevertheless, respondent continued to maintain that votes were cast in Frazier’s name. Respondent argued that in making the statements, he was never referring to Frazier having voted in 2020, but rather had relied on a blogger who purportedly wrote that Frazier voted in 2018; respondent stated that in fact, he never said that Frazier had voted in 2020. While respondent claimed to have been speaking about some year in the past, not 2020, the Referee noted that 2020 was the year in which the most recent election had taken place, and the year in which respondent first made the statement concerning Frazier. Thus, characterizing respondent’s explanation as a “strained interpretation of his statements,” the Referee found that “[t]he words Respondent used clearly convey a reference to the 2020 election and cannot be interpreted otherwise.”

One of many

Contrary to respondent’s allegations, there is nothing on the record before us that would permit the conclusion that respondent lacked knowledge of the falsehood of the numerous statements that he made, and that he had a good faith basis to believe them to be true. On the contrary, as the Referee properly found, the 16 acts of falsehoods carried out by respondent were deliberate and constituted a transparent pattern of conduct intended and designed to deceive. More specifically, as the Referee aptly described, respondent “told numerous lies in the numerous forums all designed to create distrust of the elective system of our country in the minds of the citizens and to destroy their confidence in the legitimacy of our government.” Undeterred, respondent went as far as to attempt to deceive this tribunal by his numerous inconsistent statements before the Referee and the AGC.

(Mike Frisch)