Rudy Giuliani should lose his law license due to his involvement in a failed lawsuit contesting former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Pennsylvania, a Washington, D.C. disciplinary board declared on Friday.
The board’s 63-page report accused Giuliani, once Trump’s personal lawyer and a former New York City mayor, of attempting “to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania voters without the slightest factual basis for doing so.” The D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility concluded that Giuliani breached two legal ethics rules by making unfounded allegations of voter fraud in the Pennsylvania lawsuit, which was dismissed by a federal judge.
Giuliani’s legal team, including retired New York state judge John Leventhal, chose not to comment. Leventhal previously contended that the Pennsylvania lawsuit was fundamentally flawed and that Giuliani had limited options to remedy it.
The board’s recommendation now moves to the D.C. Court of Appeals, which holds the final authority on disciplinary actions for lawyers licensed in Washington.
Once hailed as “America’s Mayor” for his leadership following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Giuliani’s recent actions have overshadowed his past accolades. A hearing committee in July noted that his conduct in the Pennsylvania case eclipsed all his previous achievements.
In addition to the disciplinary proceedings, Giuliani faces criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
