Famed attorney and politician Rudy Giuliani’s storied and previously illustrious career has found itself at a rather ignominious end as he has just had his law license suspended in New York for making “demonstrably false and misleading” claims around the 2020 US election.
Once garnering the title of ‘America’s Mayor’, a more apt title now, according to his many critics, should likely be ‘America’s Liar’.
The former mayor of New York City lauded for his handling of the aftermath of 9/11, and the former scourge of mafioso across the city has hitched his wagon to a train that is filled with outlandish conspiracy theories and attack politics by becoming a personal lawyer to former US President Donald Trump, someone he has been friends with for decades. As the proverbial saying goes, ‘you reap what you sow’.
Upon hearing the news, former President Trump defended his friend as “a great American patriot” but quickly used the platform to continue to espouse his now worn out claims of electoral fraud with his equally worn out lack of any proof whatsoever.
The fact that Giuliani repeatedly went to court to overturn the result, claiming it had been fixed, and lost every time, made the decision by the five-judge panel, all but assured.
The decision the panel came to is at the moment just temporary until a full disciplinary hearing can be held on the matter, however, the lawyers representing Mr. Giuliani were quick to say they were disappointed with the New York appellate court ruling, stating, “Our client does not pose a present danger to the public interest,” continuing, “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.”
Mr. Giuliani attempted to stymie this effort to investigate his claims of widespread voter fraud by claiming that any statements he made were protected under his right to free speech.
The judges were having none of that and said that their decision had been made due to Mr. Giuliani making several false statements about voting in the states of Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania – including claims that hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots and other votes had been improperly counted.
Since the defeat of his friend and client, Donald Trump, Giuliani, and their allies have filed dozens of lawsuits alleging voter fraud in last year’s elections. All but one have been dismissed by US courts or withdrawn by prosecutors for lack of evidence.
This would be the first time Giuliani had argued a case in a courtroom for over three decades, and if the judges decide to make the ban permanent, it seems that will be the last time.
If he is to find himself in court again, it is likely to be as the accused as he is still looking at two considerable court battles, one from Dominion Voting Systems and the other from Smartmatic, who have both filed defamation lawsuits seeking $1.3 billion and $2.7 billion in damages respectively.
This latest development comes only a few months after Giuliani’s home and office were raided by the FBI as part of yet another investigation into the former New York mayor’s dealings with Ukraine.
With the latest installment of the Trump saga ending with the Trump Organization being charged with tax-related crimes and its finance chief, Allen Weisselberg who has worked with Trump for nearly 50 years, having to turn himself into New York authorities to then be charged with concealing $1.7m worth of income.
These continuing investigations will also take into account eight years of Mr. Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns, obtained by prosecutors after a long legal battle, which ended in the Supreme Court in February. So, it is still likely that Giuliani will be involved in the investigations for his part as Trump’s personal lawyer, but as yet he has not been named in that investigation.
Whatever is on the horizon for Giuliani, it looks like more and more dark clouds are gathering above his head as not only does his reputation lay in tatters, his future as a free man is becoming increasingly unlikely.
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