Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to media outside his apartment building after the suspension of his law licence in New York City, New York, the US, June 24 2021. Picture: REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY
His “conduct immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law,” the Appellate Division, said in its 33-page ruling. “This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph Biden.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents conducted April 28 raids on his home and office pursuant to warrants from that probe, seizing his personal electronic devices. “The seriousness of respondent’s uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated,” the panel wrote. “False statements intended to foment a loss of confidence in our elections and resulting loss of confidence in government generally damage the proper functioning of a free society. When those false statements are made by an attorney, it also erodes the public’s confidence in the integrity of attorneys.
New York University legal ethics professor Stephen Gillers said the imposition of an interim suspension on Giuliani for lying to the public was “unique”. Such suspensions are usually only applied to lawyers who’ve been found to be cheating their clients, he said.