The D.C. Bar’s disciplinary counsel recommended Thursday that Rudy Giuliani be disbarred after a hearing panel tentatively determined he likely violated at least one professional conduct rule in his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania. The panel did not specify what rule Giuliani likely violated and said that its determination was preliminary and nonbinding. It plans to release a final decision in several weeks.
Hamilton “Phil” Fox, of the District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel, called for the harshest penalty for Giuliani, disbarment, after the panel announced its tentative finding, saying Giuliani tried to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Said Fox: “Any lawyer that engages in this kind of misconduct, harming the country as this has done, has at least got to realize that his or her law license is at risk.”
At the conclusion of the proceedings, Giuliani expressed outrage towards the panel for allowing Fox to assert what he characterized as a “personal attack.” Giuliani’s lawyer, John Leventhal, argued for a just a minor disciplinary measure, like a letter of reprimand or private admonition, arguing that the disciplinary counsel’s arguments rely heavily on politics. “We feel that the least serious discipline should be imposed, otherwise you’re going to chill effective advocacy in the future,” Leventhal said.
A New York appellate court suspended Giuliani’s law license last year, saying he made “demonstrably false and misleading” statements about the 2020 election while serving as Trump’s lawyer. Giuliani’s D.C. law license was temporarily suspended after the New York decision.
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