Today, Rudy
Guiliani’s license to practice law was suspended for numerous violations of the
Code of Professional Responsibility. It is highly unusual for a license to be
suspended before formal disbarment proceedings are completed but, according to
the court, Guiliani’s total disregard for his responsibilities as a lawyer
warranted the suspension.
They were being
kind.
The ruling was
replete with misstatements and outright lies made by Guiliani in a variety of
public forums.
Before getting
into some of those, we need to talk about gross stupidity. If you or I knew
that our license was in possible jeopardy, we would make the strongest possible
case in our defense. Guiliani had the opportunity to do just that in his brief
in opposition to the suspension—and didn’t. A footnote to the Court’s decision
lays out some of the deficiencies.
In opposition to
this motion, respondent refers to affidavits he has not provided. He also
relies on a “confidential informant”. We do not understand, nor does respondent
explain why, as a private attorney seemingly unconnected to law enforcement, he
would have access to a “confidential informant” that we cannot also have access
to. At yet another point respondent claims he relies on a Trump attorney who
chooses not to be identified. Respondent also refers to hundreds of witnesses,
experts, and investigative reports, none of which have been provided or
identified and an Excel spreadsheet, also not provided, purportedly listing the
names of thousands of deceased voters who allegedly cast ballots in Michigan.
If you are trying to defend your license, this
is not a good start.
The court made a special point of noting that
lawyers have a heightened responsibility to tell the truth and not to purposely
mislead the public. This is particularly true when you are regularly appearing
on radio, television and at public events.
Guiliani had a demonstrated history of using inaccurate
numbers and “facts” to support his claims of fraud in the presidential
election. These ranged from wrong absentee voting numbers in Pennsylvania to
wrong “dead voter” numbers in Georgia. When he was proven wrong in every case, Guiliani
defended himself by saying that he received bad information from, among others,
his legal staff, bloggers, websites and “experts.” Guiliani provided no excuse
for perpetuating those lies even after the truth was presented to him.
Lying to the public is one thing. Lying to the
court is another entirely. Guiliani did that too. You may remember his
disastrous oral argument as the attorney for Trump, et al in the United
States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. There, Guiliani
argued that this was a fraud case, even though there were no fraud allegations
in the complaint. The court went into some detail:
[Guiliani’s] mischaracterization of
the case was not simply a passing mistake or inadvertent reference. Fraud was
the crown of his personal argument before the court that day. In his opening
remarks, respondent claimed that the allegations in the complaint concerned
“widespread, nationwide voter fraud of which this is a part…." He
persisted in making wide ranging conclusory claims of fraud in Pennsylvania
elections and other jurisdictions allegedly occurring over a period of many
years. Respondent argued that the plaintiff’s fraud arguments pertained to the
canvassing claim, notwithstanding that there was neither a fraud nor a
canvassing claim before the court. Respondent’s fraud argument spanned pages 12
to 31 of the transcript.
These violations of the Code of Professional
Responsibility are easily enough to sustain a disbarment. However, since this is
what is called an interim proceeding, the Court needed evidence that Guiliani
should be immediately suspended because his conduct threatens the public
interest.
Often, these interim proceedings go no further because the
respondent demonstrates a change of conduct. In other words, they’ve learned
their lesson. As the court record indicates, Guiliani continued to promulgate
lies even after the disciplinary proceedings began.
The court made its decision clear.
[W]e conclude that there is
uncontroverted evidence that respondent communicated demonstrably false and
misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his
capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign
in connection with Trump’s failed effort at reelection in 2020. These false
statements were made to improperly bolster respondent’s narrative that due to
widespread voter fraud, victory in the 2020 United States presidential election
was stolen from his client. We conclude that respondent’s conduct immediately
threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice
of law, pending further proceedings before the Attorney Grievance Committee.
Now consider
the response of Guiliani’s lawyers to the 33-page decision.
"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. 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."
Well, they had
to say SOMETHING.
Guiliani’s
license will remain suspended until the full disciplinary process is completed.