Panel Recommends Rudy Giuliani Be Disbarred for Attempting To Overturn 2020 Election

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, July 7, a bar disciplinary committee concluded that Rudy Giuliani should be disbarred in Washington D.C. for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Specifically, the panel described how Giuliani’s involvement in Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Boockvar — a case alleging that election fraud took place in Democratic counties and failed to present any such evidence — “helped destabilize our democracy.” The 41-page document details how Giuliani’s lawsuit in Pennsylvania, which was brought on behalf of the Trump campaign, “attempted unjustifiably and without precedent to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania voters, and ultimately sought to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential Election.” 

The board concluded that Giuliani violated Pennsylvania rules “by filing a lawsuit seeking to change the result of the 2020 presidential election when he had no factual basis, and consequently no legitimate legal grounds to do so.” The panel condemned Giuliani’s promulgation of the Big Lie, explaining that he “claimed massive election fraud but had no evidence of it. By prosecuting that destructive case Mr. Giuliani, a sworn officer of the Court, forfeited his right to practice law. He should be disbarred.”

The panel underscored how Giuliani’s actions put the entire legal field in jeopardy: “Finally, public confidence in our courts, the law, and the legal profession are very much at stake in this unprecedented case. We cannot blind ourselves to the broader context in which Mr. Giuliani’s misconduct took place. It was calculated to undermine the basic premise of our democratic form of government: that elections are determined by the voters.” 

Importantly, the panel also detailed that Giuliani was not alone in his efforts to overturn valid election results and highlights the fact that the Pennsylvania lawsuit was “carefully calibrated to blend into a nationwide cascade of litigation intended to overturn the presidential election.” 

“The misconduct here sadly transcends all his past accomplishments. It was unparalleled in its destructive purpose and effect. He sought to disrupt a presidential election and persists in his refusal to acknowledge the wrong he has done. For these reasons, we unanimously recommend that Mr. Giuliani be disbarred[,] ” the panel concluded. 

Read the report and recommendation of the disciplinary committee here.