From star prosecutor of mobsters to mayor of the nation’s biggest city to personal lawyer of a U.S. president, Rudolph Giuliani has enjoyed a career of which many only dream. But a recent turn of events may prove a rude awakening for Rudy.
Thursday, June 24, the famous attorney was suspended from practicing law in the state of New York by an appellate court. His offense? “Demonstrably false and misleading statements” that amount to an “immediate threat to the public.” Is Giuliani guilty – or is his career being canceled as an act of political revenge?
What Did Rudy Do?
Recall that many Republicans, including President Trump, Giuliani, and fellow attorney Sidney Powell fought tooth and nail to prove various allegations of electoral shenanigans – only to have their concerns swept aside. All the while, the left-wing media and the Democrats loudly decried those who raised suspicions as conspiracy theorists, sore losers, and, ultimately, threats to democracy. Then came January 6 – and now a new label is slapped on those who openly discuss the possibility of fraud: domestic terrorist.
With pretty much every single metric defying the odds, and 18 of the 19 bellwether counties that have been regarded as reliable indicators since 1980 voting for President Trump, the Republicans could have honestly thought there was fraud where there wasn’t, and the Democrats refused to take the time to prove it.
Lingering Attacks From the Left
The Attorney Grievance Committee petitioned for Giuliani’s suspension as a matter of “the integrity of the bar.” The committee alleged that the former Trump attorney went far beyond his duties to his client by blatantly lying. The court agreed, calling Giuliani's statements false and saying they “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.”
Giuliani wasn’t the first to face the wrath of the Attorney Grievance Committee. Representative Lee Zeldin (R-NY) was accused by 22 New York lawyers of violating “the most fundamental ethics rules, including participating in frivolous litigation, making false statements regarding the presidential election, and committing, arguably, a criminal act that reflects on his trustworthiness.” His “criminal act,” was being one of 126 congressional Republicans to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas’ election fraud lawsuit with the Supreme Court and his continued claims that fraud occurred, even after the Jan. 6 riot.
Combine that with the Democrats’ second attempt to convict Trump – even after he left office – and it’s clear these lingering attacks from the left aren’t going to end any time soon.
What Lies Ahead for Rudy?
The court’s interim suspension before his hearing on the alleged issues certainly isn’t the norm. Elie Honig, a legal analyst for CNN, explained that “this does not happen every day by any stretch. This is a very rare thing and a very extreme thing for the court to do.” Attorney Ronald Minkoff frequently defends lawyers in cases from the Attorney Grievance Committee, though he did represent attorneys who filed a complaint against Giuliani in January. Hardly on Rudy’s side in this issue, even Minkoff had to admit that the speed of the suspension wasn’t normal. "In a case this difficult, this is a pretty quick turnaround, especially considering the amount of complaints they had to evaluate,” he said.
Giuliani still has a hearing ahead of him, but the court explained that the “incontrovertible misconduct” would likely result in “permanent sanctions at the conclusions of these disciplinary proceedings.” He may prevail in the hearing, but the court’s own words aren’t promising. And if he does manage to end the suspension, as Minkoff put it, he has “a long process ahead before he’ll be able to practice again.” How long a battle the 77-year-old man can endure remains to be seen.
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