In service to his client, President Donald J. Trump, New York-based attorney Rudy Giuliani has openly boasted about the lengths he would go to support his client. Mr. Giuliani has admitted lying for the President, working with Russian intelligence operatives in service of the President’s corrupt political interests, and has pushed a corrupt and knowingly false political narrative. He has also filed and argued frivolous lawsuits in support of the President’s attempt to quash the American people’s will and the results of a demonstrably fair election.
Anyone of these unprofessional legal engagements should be sufficient to have Rudy Giuliani disbarred from the practice of law. These actions reflect that the former Assistant U.S. Attorney is not morally, ethically, or professionally fit to serve in the legal profession.
Rule 3.1 of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct states:
“A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law.”
Rule 8.4 states:
It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to:
(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation;
(d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice;
(e) state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official or to achieve results by means that violate the Rules of Professional Conduct or other law.
Giuliani has Undermined the Integrity of the Legal System
Rudy Giuliani has personally corrupted the practice of law and severely undermined the integrity of the legal profession. Through both actions and deeds, he has repeatedly presented himself as a “consigliere” to a “Mob Boss”—the President of the United States.
But Giuliani’s previous corrupt services to Donald J. Trump pale compared to the criminal behavior the former “Peoples’ Mayor” engaged in during the “Save America” rally staged on the National Mall Ellipse on January 6, 2021. History will record January 6, 2021, as the day that Trump, and his radicalized Republican supporters, including Giuliani, orchestrated a violent insurrection that’s intent was to impede and overthrow America’s constitutional government.
In warm-up speeches designed to arouse the violent passions of the crowd assembled to hear from their “leader’s” speech, the consigliere underbosses, sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, implored the angry, roiling Trumpian rally-goers to stand up and fight to “Save America.”
Giuliani Urges “Stop the Steal” Crowd to “Trial by Combat”
In his fiery speech, Giuliani explicitly urged the crowd to “stop the steal” of the 2020 presidential election and “save America” through “trial by combat.” In case the wordsmith was ignorant of its meaning, the Oxford Languages dictionary defines “combat” as “fighting between armed forces.”
At President Trump’s urging, the crowd left the Ellipse, headed for the Capitol Building where congressional lawmakers were certifying the 2020 Electoral College votes. They then violently stormed the Capitol Building, criminally ransacked the “Peoples House,” and left five people dead and dozens seriously injured in the wake of their failed insurrection. Rioters were chanting slogans of their intent to kill Speaker of the House Pelosi and hang Vice-President Mike Pence.
Trumpers Engage in Combat with Capital Police
The insurrectionists did what Giuliani implored them to do: they engaged in “armed conflict” with the Capitol police force. One police officer was beaten to death with a fire extinguisher, and scores were injured. One insurrectionist was killed trying to break through a Capitol Building door.
Criminal Charges and Disbarment are Appropriate
Rudy Giuliani should not only be disbarred but criminally charged under 18 U.S. Code § 373 with “solicitation to commit a crime of violence.” Subsection (a) of this statute provides:
“Whoever, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against property or against the person of another in violation of the laws of the United States, and under circumstances strongly corroborative of that intent, solicits, commands, induces, or otherwise endeavors to persuade such other person to engage in such conduct, shall be imprisoned not more than one-half the maximum term of imprisonment or fined not more than one-half of the maximum fine proscribed for the punishment of the crime solicited, or both, or if the crime solicited is punishable by life imprisonment or death, shall be imprisoned for not more than twenty years.”
Additionally, Giuliani and friends could be charged with many other criminal offenses ranging from domestic terrorism to “seditious conspiracy.”
A Disgrace to the Legal Profession
State and federal lawmakers are now calling for Giuliani’s disbarment, along with many of his cabal of pro-Trump lawyers. We agree. Rudy Giuliani is not fit to be a member of the Bar. He is an absolute and utter disgrace to the legal profession.
Further, an exhaustive criminal investigation should be conducted into the acts of Mr. Giuliani and his co-conspirators and, if justified, criminal charges filed, which will see the “consigliere” standing before a federal judge in an orange jumpsuit. He is an insurrectionist that encouraged the violent overthrow of our constitutional system of government.
Giuliani needs to be among the ranks of those mafia henchmen he prosecuted and sent to federal prisons. They could share a “spot of tea” together in the cellblock dayroom.