President Donald Trump’s attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the West Wing of the White House on July 1, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
The New York State Bar Association said Monday it was launching an investigation into whether or not to revoke the membership of Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, for his violent rhetoric at a rally for the president before the Capitol uprising. last week. as other actions.
The bar group said in a statement that the blame for the disaster by thousands of the president’s supporters “lies primarily with Trump,” who continues to make false claims about his election loss against President-elect Joe Biden.
“But the president did not act alone,” noted the bar association.
Hours before the angry mob stormed the walls of the Capitol, Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph Giuliani addressed a crowd of thousands in the White House and repeated unfounded allegations of widespread electoral fraud in the presidential election and Senate run-offs in Georgia. “
At the White House meeting shortly before the riot, Giuliani had said, “If we’re wrong, we’ll be fooled, but if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail.”
“Let’s take a trial through a fight,” said Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, an ex-Manhattan attorney in the US and a former senior Justice Department official.
The Bar Association noted that its statutes state that “ no one advocating the overthrow of the government of the United States, or of any state, territory or possession thereof, or of any political division therein, by force or other illegal means , will become a member of the association. “
And the group said, “Mr. Giuliani’s words were very clearly intended to encourage Trump supporters who are unhappy with the election outcome to take matters into their own hands.”
“Their subsequent attack on the Capitol was nothing less than an attempted coup d’état designed to prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” said the group, whose membership is voluntary.
Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the group’s statement, which called its research “ historical. ” The association said it was not taking its decision lightly.
If the bar group removes him from the membership lists, Giuliani would still be able to exercise rights in his home state of New York. To expel a lawyer there, action must be taken by the Complaints Board of the Appeals Division of the state’s legal system.
The Bar Association said it has received hundreds of complaints in recent months about Giuliani ‘and his unfounded attempts on behalf of President Trump to cast doubt on the correctness of the 2020 presidential election and, after the votes are cast, to verify its legitimate results. destroy. . “
None of these efforts, including lawsuits, managed to invalidate a single vote for Biden on allegation of fraud.
The group said the investigation into Giuliani’s ejection was based on both previous complaints and his statement shortly before the Capitol was attacked.
“We cannot stand by and allow those who want to tear the structure of our democracy out of control,” the association said.
“Mr. Giuliani will be given a fair trial and the opportunity – if he so wishes – to explain and defend his words and actions,” the group said.
Giuliani could be called upon to defend Trump if impeached for the riots that killed five people, including a Capitol police officer murdered by the president’s supporters.
The riot interrupted Congress’s confirmation of Biden’s election as the next president.