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Rudy Giuliani speaks to members of the media where Republican Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis was scheduled to hold a campaign event on January 21, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
CNN
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The New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his role in Donald Trump’s efforts to interfere in the 2020 election.
The long-awaited disbarment of Trump’s top lawyer, effective immediately, is a major blow to the former official at a time when he is facing the consequences of spreading lies about the 2020 election. In addition to losing his law license — which is likely to be recognized nationwide — Giuliani is bankrupt after racking up $150 million in debt for defaming two election workers, and faces several other lawsuits against him as well as criminal charges.
“The gravity of (Giuliani’s) misconduct cannot be overstated,” the court wrote. “(Giuliani) flagrantly abused his prominent position as personal attorney to former President Trump and his campaign, whereby (he) repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjured, to federal court, state legislators, the public, the (Lawyers Grievance Committee), and this Court regarding the 2020 presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”
According to the court, Giuliani “not only willfully violated some of the most fundamental principles of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national conflict that followed the 2020 presidential election, for which he shows no remorse.”
Giuliani had already been suspended from practicing law while the New York court considered disciplinary proceedings against him. In its decision, the court cited the former Trump lawyer’s efforts to overturn the election results in several key 2020 states.
A spokesman for Giuliani condemned the disbarment, which went through several proceedings before the court’s final decision Tuesday.
“Members of the legal community who respect the rule of law in this country must immediately come forward and denounce this politically and ideologically corrupt decision. We will appeal this objectively flawed decision in the hope that the appeals process will restore the integrity of our judicial system,” spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement.
Giuliani played a key role in several of Trump’s schemes to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He was involved in alleged attempts to plant fake electors to falsely certify Trump’s victories in several states, including Arizona and Georgia, and, as the court noted Tuesday, Giuliani “falsely and dishonestly represented to the public that people were being brought from Camden, New Jersey, to vote illegally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 2020 presidential election.”
In Georgia, Giuliani is charged with a RICO violation as well as several other crimes, including soliciting Georgia state legislators, making false statements to the Georgia House and Senate, and working to spoof voters in the state. He is one of several co-conspirators charged in the case, in which Trump is also charged.
He faces charges related to election subversion efforts in Arizona and is an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump’s federal election subversion case.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Owen Dahlkamp and Michelle Shen contributed to this report.
