Rudy Giuliani Disbarrment

We saw it coming, but now Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City (“America’s Mayor”) and Trump attorney, has been disbarred in Washington, D.C., following a ruling by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. 

This decision comes in the wake of similar disciplinary action taken against Giuliani in New York earlier this year.

The D.C. court’s ruling was based on reciprocal discipline stemming from Giuliani’s disbarment in New York, noting that Giuliani failed to respond to an order to show cause as to why he should not face the same penalty in D.C. as he did in New York.

Background and Context

Giuliani’s legal troubles are closely tied to his role in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election. In New York, Giuliani was found to have made false and misleading statements about the election while serving as Trump’s personal attorney.

The New York disbarrment involved a variety of serious allegations including:

The he made false and misleading statements about the 2020 presidential election. The New York appeals court found “uncontroverted evidence” that Giuliani spread “demonstrably false and misleading statements” to courts, lawmakers and the public during his efforts to overturn the election results.

The court found that

The court determined that Giuliani “repeatedly and intentionally made false statements” about the 2020 election, some of which were deemed perjurious. He had “baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process”.

He was found to have “flagrantly misused” his position as Trump’s lawyer and “deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession”.

The court concluded that Giuliani’s conduct posed an “immediate threat” to the public interest.

The New York court emphasized that Giuliani’s false statements and unethical conduct were particularly egregious given his prominent position as a lawyer and former public official. It was these findings that led to Giuliani’s disbarment in New York, which then formed the basis for reciprocal disbarment in Washington D.C..

Legal and Professional Consequences

The disbarment in D.C. is the latest in a series of professional setbacks for Giuliani:

• His law license in D.C. had been suspended since 2021.
• He faces criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona related to election interference efforts.
• A federal judge found him liable for defaming two Georgia election workers, resulting in a $148 million judgment against him.

Reactions and Implications

Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, criticized the decision, calling it “an absolute travesty and a total miscarriage of justice”. 

He urged members of the legal community to speak out against what he described as a partisan decision. 

But for “America’s mayor” it is a final slap for Giuliani, coming in a simple, single page order from the DC court.