Center for American Progress

The case for disbarring Rudy Giuliani, other Trump lawyers—and even some lawmakers
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The case for disbarring Rudy Giuliani, other Trump lawyers—and even some lawmakers

Author Maggie Jo Buchanan makes the case for disbarring Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump's lawyers, and lawmakers who were complicit in the former president's efforts to overturn the election, arguing that professional repercussions are necessary in order for the legal profession's codes of conduct to have any meaning.

The lawyers who have been complicit in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, bolstering both his baseless legal claims and his dangerous rhetoric, must be rejected by the legal profession.

Under professional codes of conduct across the country, attorneys are prohibited from engaging in “frivolous” conduct, and legal ethics generally prohibit lawyers from bringing claims for “improper purposes,” such as undermining an election. Conduct outside the courtroom matters, as well. And Scott L. Cummings, a legal ethics expert at UCLA Law School, summarized that being an attorney means “ultimately standing up for and promoting the rule of law as a core democratic value.”

The above excerpt was originally published in Fortune. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Maggie Jo Buchanan

Former Senior Director and Senior Legal Fellow, Women’s Initiative