NY bar association may boot Giuliani
Complaints mount over Trump lawyer’s actions
The New York State Bar Association may boot Rudy Giuliani from its membership over his speech before last week’s deadly siege on the Capitol.
The association announced Monday it’s investigating the former New York City mayor, who is President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, because he called for a “trial by combat” at a rally Wednesday near the White House.
“Mr. Giuliani’s words quite clearly were intended to encourage Trump supporters unhappy with the election’s outcome to take matters into their own hands,” the association said in a statement.
After the rally, a group of pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted Congress’ confirmation of President-elect Joe Biden’s election win. A Capitol Police officer and four other people were killed in the riot.
“Their subsequent attack on the Capitol was nothing short of an attempted coup, intended to prevent the peaceful transition of power,” the association said in its statement.
The association’s bylaws state, “No person who advocates the overthrow of the government ... by force or other illegal means, shall be a member of the Association.” Giuliani will have the chance to explain and defend his words and actions, the association said.
The volunteer group said it has received hundreds of complaints against Giuliani over his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election Trump lost.
Reps. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., sent a letter to the association Saturday that said Giuliani’s activities “would see any other ordinary lawyer summarily thrown out of the profession.”
“Rudy Giuliani’s incitement of a riot at the United States Capitol should bring an end to his destructive legal career,” Jones said in a statement. “The legal profession cannot tolerate sedition in its ranks if it hopes to maintain the faith of the American people. We must make an example of him.”
Giuliani condemned the violence at the Capitol in a tweet Thursday, but he subsequently posted a Youtube video and tweets espousing a conspiracy theory that the violence during the siege was committed by “antifa.”