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Rudy Giuliani speaks to members of the media where Republican candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was scheduled to host a campaign event on January 21, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
CNN
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The New York state Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani over his part in Donald Trump’s election interference efforts in 2020.
The long-expected disbarment of Trump’s most high-profile lawyer, which is effective immediately, is a major blow to the former public official at a time he faces fallout for spreading lies about the 2020 election. In addition to losing his law license – which is likely to be recognized across the country – Giuliani is in bankruptcy after landing $150 million in debt for defaming two election workers, and faces several other lawsuits against him as well as criminal charges.
“The seriousness of (Giuliani’s) misconduct cannot be overstated,” the court wrote. “(Giuliani) flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for former President Trump and his campaign, through which (he) repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public, the (Attorney Grievance Committee), and this Court concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”
Giuliani, the court said, “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.”
Giuliani previously was suspended from being able to practice law while the New York court considered attorney discipline proceedings against him. In its ruling, the court cited the former Trump attorney’s efforts to overturn the election results in several 2020 battleground states.
On X, Giuliani said he was “not surprised” by the ruling and blasted what he said was a corrupt system. A spokesman for Giuliani also condemned the disbarment, which had gone through several proceedings before the court’s final decision on Tuesday.
“Members of the legal community who respect the rule of law in this country should immediately come forward and speak out against this politically and ideologically corrupted decision. We will be appealing this objectively flawed decision in hopes that the appellate process will restore integrity into our system of justice,” spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement.
Giuliani played a key role in several of Trump’s schemes to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He was involved in alleged efforts to put forth fake electors to falsely certify Trump victories in several states, such as Arizona and Georgia, and, as the court noted Tuesday, Giuliani “falsely and dishonestly asserted to the public that people were brought from Camden, New Jersey, to vote illegally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 2020 presidential election.”
In Georgia, Giuliani is charged with a RICO violation as well as several additional felonies, including soliciting Georgia state lawmakers, making false statements to the Georgia House and Senate and working to put forward fake electors in the state. He is one of several co-conspirators indicted in that case, in which Trump also is a defendant.
He is facing charges related to the election subversion efforts in Arizona and is an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump’s federal election subversion case.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Owen Dahlkamp and Michelle Shen contributed to this report.
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