Giuliani Hit With Ethics Charges Over Bogus Election Fraud Claims

Rudy Giuliani continues to face consequences for his role in the 2020 Trump campaign.

According to the Associated Press, the disciplinary branch of the D.C. bar filed ethical charges against the disgraced lawyer on June 6, alleging he had violated Pennsylvania’s Rules of Professional Conduct while trying to overturn the 2020 election. The filing, which became public Friday, points to Giuliani’s statements in a Pennsylvania federal court, where he supported a Trump campaign lawsuit that sought to invalidate up to 1.5 million mail-in ballots in the state. The lawsuit was ultimately tossed out.

The bar claims Giuliani tried to “leverage the lawful rejection of two ballots by non-defendant counties into invalidating up to 1.5 million votes already counted.” The filing argues his actions violated state’s Rules of Professional Conduct “in that he brought a proceeding and asserted issues therein without a non-frivolous basis in law and fact for doing so” and “that he engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

Giuliani was reportedly admitted to the D.C. bar in 1976, but has been an inactive for the past 20 years. The newly filed charges could result in Giuliani’s disbarment or the suspension of his law license in D.C. According to the filing, he has 20 days to respond.

News of the charges come about a year after a New York court suspended Giuliani from practicing law in the state. The decision was based on allegations that Giuliani had made “demonstrably false and misleading” claims about the 2020 presidential election. Weeks later, the D.C. temporarily suspended his law license pending disciplinary proceedings in New York.