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The
November 2020 lawsuit, which sought to throw out votes cast in
Pennsylvania, was rejected by a judge. A federal appeals court
refused to let the campaign file a revised complaint.
Hamilton "Phil" Fox of the District of Columbia Office of
Disciplinary Counsel told the panel that the former New York
City mayor, once the top U.S. prosecutor in Manhattan, "weaponized
his law license to bring a frivolous action in an attempt to
undermine the Constitution."
Monday marked the start of weeklong arguments before a hearing
committee of the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility,
which could recommend suspending Giuliani's D.C. law license or
disbarring him. A D.C. court will make the final decision on any
discipline.
Giuliani's lawyer, John Leventhal, said his client should not
face charges because the judge in the Pennsylvania case did not
accept and never considered the only version of the complaint
that Giuliani himself signed.
Leventhal also faulted the judge's reasons for dismissing the
lawsuit and noted that the court did not sanction Giuliani over
his arguments.
Giuliani was the first witness called on Monday. He described
how he began leading the Trump campaign's legal efforts to
challenge the 2020 election results, including his work on the
Pennsylvania lawsuit.
Disciplinary counsel Fox asked Giuliani about whether he had
backed up certain claims in the lawsuit with sufficient detail,
which lawyers are required to do when alleging fraud. Giuliani
repeatedly said the allegations were as specific as he could
make them at the time, adding that he was under time constraints
to sue before the election results were certified.
Giuliani's testimony is expected to conclude on Tuesday.
Giuliani's New York law license was suspended in June 2021 after
a state appeals court found that he made "demonstrably false and
misleading" statements that widespread voter fraud undermined
the election.
His D.C. law license was temporarily suspended after the New
York decision.
(Reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen in Washington; Additional
reporting by Andrew Goudsward in Washington; Editing by David
Bario, Bill Berkrot and Jonathan Oatis)
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