New York bar association investigates whether to revoke membership of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani
PUBLISHED MON, JAN 11 202110:37 AM EST Dan Mangan @_DANMANGAN
KEY POINTS * The New York State Bar Association said Monday that it was launching a probe on whether to revoke the membership of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer for President Donald Trump. * The group cited Giuliani’s violent rhetoric at a rally for the president before the Capitol riot last week as well as other actions. * Thousands of supporters of Trump invaded the Capitol, disrupting the confirmation by Congress of the election of Joe Biden as the next president.
The New York State Bar Association said Monday that it was launching a probe on whether to revoke the membership of Rudy Giuliani, the personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, over his violent rhetoric at a rally for the president before the Capitol riot last week as well as other actions.
The bar group said in a statement that the blame for the riot by thousands of the president’s supporters “lies first and foremost with” Trump, who has continued making false claims about his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden.
“But the president did not act alone,” the bar association noted.
“Hours before the angry mob stormed the Capitol walls, Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, addressed a crowd of thousands at the White House, reiterating baseless claims of widespread election fraud in the presidential election and the Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs.”
At the rally near the White House shortly before the riot, Giuliani had said, “If we’re wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we’re right a lot of them will go to jail.”
“Let’s have trial by combat,” said Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, ex-Manhattan U.S. Attorney and former top Justice Department official.
The bar association noted that its bylaws state that “no person who advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States, or of any state, territory or possession thereof, or of any political subdivision therein, by force or other illegal means, shall be a member of the Association.”
And the group said, “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.”
“Their subsequent attack on the Capitol was nothing short of an attempted coup, intended to prevent the peaceful transition of power,” said the group, whose membership is voluntary.
Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement by the group, which called its inquiry “historic.” The group said it did not make its decision lightly.
If the bar group does boot him from its membership rolls, Giuliani still would be allowed to practice law in his home state of New York. Disbarring a lawyer there requires action by the Grievance Committee of the Appellate Division of the state’s court system.
The bar association said that in recent months it has received hundreds of complaints about Giuliani “and his baseless efforts on behalf of President Trump to cast doubt on the veracity of the 2020 presidential election and, after the votes were cast, to overturn its legitimate results.”
None of those efforts, which included lawsuits, managed to invalidate a single vote for Biden on a claim of fraud.
The group said the inquiry into ejecting Giuliani was based both on prior complaints and on his statement shortly before the Capitol was attacked.
“We cannot stand idly by and allow those intent on rending the fabric of our democracy to go unchecked,” the group said.
“Mr. Giuliani will be provided due process and have an opportunity – should he so choose – to explain and defend his words and actions,” the group said.
Giuliani could be called on to defend Trump if he is impeached over the riots, which left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer who was killed by the president’s supporters.
The riot interrupted the confirmation by Congress of Biden’s election as the next president.
We'll see if the American legal system is more just in Trump's case than the Italian legal system has been to Berlusconi.
"Law and Order -- Trump’s New Criminal Problem"
May 14, 2018,08:37am EDT
Despite Tax Fraud Conviction, Billionaire Berlusconi Given Okay To Run For Office
Kelly Phillips Erb Senior Contributor
Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi at the end of the Consultations of the President of the... [+] Republic for the formation of the new Government on May 07, 2018 in Rome, Italy (Photo by Silvia Lore/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The tax fraud scheme .. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2012/10/26/berlusconi-sentenced-on-tax-fraud-on-trial-for-sex-crimes/#20f0e857b20e .. involved a series of offshore companies. Berlusconi allegedly used the companies to buy TV rights for nearly 3,000 films; the value of those films was used to claim certain tax breaks. The rights were later resold to related companies at inflated prices, and Berlusconi was accused of pocketing the difference. It was, according to prosecutors, a deliberate and significant case of tax evasion.
Berlusconi was initially sentenced to a four-year prison sentence, issued a hefty fine, and banned from public office. Most didn't expect to see Berlusconi behind bars. At first, his jail sentence was reduced to one year because of prison overcrowding .. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/08/01/italys-high-court-agrees-that-berlusconi-should-go-to-prison-but-he-likely-wont/#42d8090b2de2 . And even after the conviction was upheld in 2013 following an appeal, Berlusconi managed to avoid jail time. His sentence was eventually commuted to community service due to his age (the politician is 81).
This latest ruling means that Berlusconi could stand in an upcoming election. Of course, he was hardly absent from politics since he continued to remain at the head of the Forza Italia party following his forced resignation from public office. However, Forza did not make a strong showing in this year's March general election, where no single party won a majority. Since that time, the top vote-getters have been working to woo allies and support, making it possible for Berlusconi to claw back into the fray. The date of the next election has not been set but it will likely be in early summer.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
