Rudy Giuliani has been suspended with immediate effect from the practice of law in New York State for making false and misleading statements about the general election while representing then President Donald Trump.
That's Orwellian: disbarring an attorney for representing his client's position on an election that was procedurally flawed, opaque and statistically bizarre.
I remember the bruhaha over the Florida results for Bush-Gore and the repeated, content-free insistence that the Russian government somehow got Trump elected in 2016. Don't remember anybody getting disbarred over it.
Mr. Giuliani was not suspended for his politics. Nor is his conduct comparable to that of other lawyers defending unpopular or controversial clients. He was suspended for lying through his teeth, repeatedly and brazenly, both to the American people via the press/media and in court filings. In New York the bar for disciplining lawyers is actually fairly high. But in every state in the union there are some things lawyers simply are not allowed to do. Straight up lying is one of them.
People should try reading the court order. It lays out the specific issues in fairly clear language. And FWIW this is a temporary order. Rudy will still have the opportunity to defend himself before the committee that handles ethics complaints. But almost nobody expects this to end well for him. My guess is he is heading for disbarment.
I read it; it's crap. Every lawyer operating on suppositions and scant facts advocating publicly for his client (like, say, Justice Department lawyers looking for Russians under your bed) would have to be disbarred. This is a political proceeding. The Establishment wants to make it clear that the Establishment's vote-counting cannot be questioned.
Hi AG. I'm sorry but that's simply not true. A lawyer's duty to vigorously defend his client or press their case has limits. Rudy went way over the line. Many of his statements are not defensible. A lawyer defending a flat earther cannot argue in court or before the press that the Earth is factually flat, whatever their client may believe. A client who is promoting patently fringe and seditious conspiracy theories, citing disproved evidence in support of them is not entitled to a have obviously bogus claims pushed by their lawyer in court filings or before the court of public opinion. Bill Clinton's lawyers got in hot water back in the 1990s when it became clear that their client had obviously lied under oath before a Federal Grand Jury. And it wasn't even the lawyers who made the false statements. They ultimately escaped sanctions but they were certainly put in a very bad spot and had to apologize to the court after lodging a formal legal notice to the effect that their client had made "misleading" statements under oath.
This has nothing to do with establishment vs populism. The issue is reality vs fantasy being pushed by a former president who is a congenital liar and and seditious cranks who are simply so divorced from reality that they are prepared to go to any lengths to undermine a fair and free election that their guy lost.
Rudy Giuliani stopped practicing law when he entered politics decades ago. More recently, he started practicing farce - and is apparently fairly adept at it... even to the point of professing to not know that this is what he's doing. But his talent for carrying it off in front of the cameras failed. Classic Buster Keaton move, and BK was an acquired taste. NY is simply recognizing reality. Pretense that this is political and not common sense continues the farce. Bravo! But fairly, farce does not belong in a court room, nor (except rarely) in politics where the affairs of the American people deserve to be taken seriously.
That's Orwellian: disbarring an attorney for representing his client's position on an election that was procedurally flawed, opaque and statistically bizarre.
ReplyDeleteI remember the bruhaha over the Florida results for Bush-Gore and the repeated, content-free insistence that the Russian government somehow got Trump elected in 2016. Don't remember anybody getting disbarred over it.
All I can figure is that it is New York. From what I read in the news papers, politics there tend to be vicious.
ReplyDeleteMr. Giuliani was not suspended for his politics. Nor is his conduct comparable to that of other lawyers defending unpopular or controversial clients. He was suspended for lying through his teeth, repeatedly and brazenly, both to the American people via the press/media and in court filings. In New York the bar for disciplining lawyers is actually fairly high. But in every state in the union there are some things lawyers simply are not allowed to do. Straight up lying is one of them.
ReplyDeletePeople should try reading the court order. It lays out the specific issues in fairly clear language. And FWIW this is a temporary order. Rudy will still have the opportunity to defend himself before the committee that handles ethics complaints. But almost nobody expects this to end well for him. My guess is he is heading for disbarment.
I read it; it's crap. Every lawyer operating on suppositions and scant facts advocating publicly for his client (like, say, Justice Department lawyers looking for Russians under your bed) would have to be disbarred. This is a political proceeding. The Establishment wants to make it clear that the Establishment's vote-counting cannot be questioned.
ReplyDeleteHi AG. I'm sorry but that's simply not true. A lawyer's duty to vigorously defend his client or press their case has limits. Rudy went way over the line. Many of his statements are not defensible. A lawyer defending a flat earther cannot argue in court or before the press that the Earth is factually flat, whatever their client may believe. A client who is promoting patently fringe and seditious conspiracy theories, citing disproved evidence in support of them is not entitled to a have obviously bogus claims pushed by their lawyer in court filings or before the court of public opinion. Bill Clinton's lawyers got in hot water back in the 1990s when it became clear that their client had obviously lied under oath before a Federal Grand Jury. And it wasn't even the lawyers who made the false statements. They ultimately escaped sanctions but they were certainly put in a very bad spot and had to apologize to the court after lodging a formal legal notice to the effect that their client had made "misleading" statements under oath.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with establishment vs populism. The issue is reality vs fantasy being pushed by a former president who is a congenital liar and and seditious cranks who are simply so divorced from reality that they are prepared to go to any lengths to undermine a fair and free election that their guy lost.
It was a procedurally flawed, historically anomalous, statistically bizzare and opaque election. And they hit the coup button around 2 a.m.
ReplyDeleteThe earth is not flat?
ReplyDeleteRudy Giuliani stopped practicing law when he entered politics decades ago. More recently, he started practicing farce - and is apparently fairly adept at it... even to the point of professing to not know that this is what he's doing. But his talent for carrying it off in front of the cameras failed. Classic Buster Keaton move, and BK was an acquired taste. NY is simply recognizing reality. Pretense that this is political and not common sense continues the farce. Bravo! But fairly, farce does not belong in a court room, nor (except rarely) in politics where the affairs of the American people deserve to be taken seriously.
ReplyDelete