The former mayor of New York City and lawyer for former President Donald Trump also "directly inflamed tensions" that led to the Capitol riots, the 33-page ruling said.
Rudy Giuliani has been suspended from practicing law in New York State. The New York appellate court announced Thursday the suspension of his law license, and the former New York City mayor now faces the possibility of disbarment.
The 33-page ruling said that Giuliani, 77, “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."
This comes after the former top prosecutor for the Southern District of New York argued for months that the election, which saw President Joe Biden defeating Trump’s reelection attempts, was rife with rigged voting machines and “widespread voter fraud,” the court ruled.
The appellate court also concluded that Giuliani’s “false and misleading” statements about the election “directly inflamed tensions that bubbled over into the events of January 6, 2021,” referring to the Capitol assault.
Giuliani’s attorneys, John Leventhal and Barry Kamins, responded to the ruling in a statement: “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.”
Giuliani was admitted to New York’s state bar in 1969, and acted as the mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He was an advisor to Trump during his presidency before he formally joined his legal team in 2018.
