Giuliani should lose his D.C. law license, says Bar Panel

A Washington legal ethics committee that oversaw a disciplinary case against Rudolph W. Giuliani late this year recommended on Friday that he be suspended over his “unparalleled” efforts to overturn the 2020 election in favor of his then-client, President Donald J. Trump. .

In its recommendation, the D.C. Bar board’s panel on professional responsibility said Mr. Giuliani’s efforts to “undermine the integrity” of the election had “destabilized our democracy” and had done “lasting damage” to the oath to the U.S. to support the constitution. which he had sworn when he was admitted to the bar.

While acknowledging a track record of Mr. Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and Manhattan U.S. attorney, the panel also noted that “all of that happened a long time ago.”

“The misconduct here sadly exceeds any of his previous achievements,” the panel wrote. “It was unparalleled in its destructive purpose and effect. He tried to disrupt a presidential election and persists in his refusal to admit the wrong he has done.”

Mr. Giuliani’s hearing before the ethics committee took place in December and focused on the role he had played in filing a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Philadelphia seeking to delay the certification of the election results in Pennsylvania.

The federal judge hearing the Pennsylvania case dismissed it, likening it to a “Frankenstein’s monster” that was “hazardously stitched together.” A federal appeals court then upheld the dismissal in a damning order from a Trump-appointed judge who noted that “calling an election unfair doesn’t make it so.”

Washington’s legal ethics committee determined that Mr. Giuliani had filed the lawsuit “when he had no factual basis, and therefore no legitimate legal grounds, to do so.”

“He claimed massive electoral fraud, but had no evidence for it,” the panel wrote. “By prosecuting that destructive case, Mr. Giuliani, a sworn officer of the court, has forfeited his right to practice law.”

A local appeals court in Washington will ultimately decide whether to revoke his license to practice law in the city. His driver’s license is already suspended in New York. One of his lawyers, Barry Kamins, said he was disappointed with the Washington commission’s recommendation and would file “vigorous appeal.”

The ethics committee’s recommendation was the most recent example of bar authorities seeking accountability for lawyers trying to help Trump overturn the results of the election and maintain his grip on power.

In March, under a negotiated agreement with Colorado state bar officials, attorney Jenna Ellis acknowledged that she had knowingly misrepresented the facts in several of her public claims that widespread vote rigging led to Trump’s defeat . Ms. Ellis worked closely with Mr. Giuliani in several attempts to keep Mr. Trump in office.

Another attorney who participated in those efforts, John Eastman, is currently facing a disciplinary hearing by California bar clerks that could result in the loss of his license. Mr. Eastman, a law professor, was the architect of a plan to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to use his position as Senate President to unilaterally throw the election to Mr. Trump at a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021. .

Potential suspension is not the only legal issue facing Mr. Giuliani. Late last year, he received a grand jury subpoena of federal prosecutors considering criminal charges related to Mr. Trump’s various attempts to stay in power.

Last month, Mr. Giuliani sat down for an interview with prosecutors who work for Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, who is leading the investigation into election interference.