Rudy Giuliani's License To Practice Law Suspended Over Comments About 2020 Election
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has had his license to practice law suspended by a New York court.
It comes after a disciplinary panel found that Giuliani, who served as former President Donald Trump's personal attorney, made false statements about the 2020 election.
"This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R. Biden," the committee wrote. "The hallmark of our democracy is predicated on free and fair elections. False statements intended to foment a loss of confidence in our elections and resulting loss of confidence in government generally damage the proper functioning of a free society."
Web Extra: Read the court's decision (pdf)
The suspension, based on violations of the state's "rules of profession conduct" for lawyers, prevents Giuliani from representing clients as an attorney.
His own legal counsel released a statement after the ruling, saying they are "disappointed."
"We are disappointed with the Appellate Division, First Department's decision suspending Mayor Giuliani prior to being afforded a hearing on the issues that are alleged," the statement read. "This is unprecedented as we believe that our client does not pose a present danger to the public interest. We believe that once the issues are fully explored at a hearing Mr. Giuliani will be reinstated as a valued member of the legal profession that he has served so well in his many capacities for so many years."
Giuliani's son, Andrew, who recently announced he's running for governor of New York, also came to his father's defense on Twitter.
"I stand by my father, he did everything, ultimately, by the book," he said.
In wake of the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol building, New York Congressman Mondaire Jones and other lawmakers called for Giuliani to be disbarred.
"The legal profession cannot tolerate sedition in its ranks if it hopes to maintain the faith of the American people. We must make an example of him," Jones said in a letter to the New York Bar Association on Jan. 9.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
