Legal Fallout Continues Against Trump’s Election Fraud Supporters
WASHINGTON — Repercussions from former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election continued this week when his former attorney was disbarred in Washington, D.C., and an election machine company falsely accused of fraud settled a defamation lawsuit.
Rudy Giuliani, who used legal action in several states to try to nullify vote counts that gave the victory to Joe Biden, was determined by the District of Columbia Bar to have knowingly filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania based on untruthful evidence.
Giuliani claimed in the lawsuit that election boards in seven counties deliberately counted illegal mail-in ballots to give Biden the state’s victory.
The Washington attorney disciplinary board called Giuliani’s claims “utterly false.”
The loss of his license this week in Washington follows a similar disbarment in New York last summer. It means the formerly famous federal prosecutor, crime-fighting New York mayor and law firm partner is no longer an attorney unless he can win a final appeal.
Also this week, media outlet Newsmax reached a settlement with election systems company Smartmatic to avert a defamation trial that was set to start next week.
Smartmatic sued Newsmax over reports that it rigged its machines to inaccurately show Trump lost the election. Giuliani was one of the first accusers of Smartmatic.
After the settlement for an undisclosed amount of money was announced, both organizations released statements expressing relief.
“Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement,” the media outlet said.
Smartmatic said, “We are very pleased to have secured the completion of the case against Newsmax.”
Giuliani’s dispute over his law license ended in a less pleasing manner. The D.C. Court of Appeals said the former New York mayor failed to respond to its order for an explanation of why he should not be disbarred.
He held a law license in Washington since 1976.
A Giuliani spokesman called the disbarment a “miscarriage of justice.”
“Members of the legal community who want to protect the integrity of our justice system should immediately speak out against this partisan, politically motivated decision,” a statement from the spokesman said.
It was only the latest legal loss for Giuliani that is ruining his career, his finances and risks getting him thrown into prison.
Last December, a judge in Washington ordered Giuliani to pay $148 million in a defamation lawsuit by two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of submitting forged ballots to tilt the state’s election toward Biden.
The amount of the judgment exceeds his personal assets by several times.
Giuliani declared bankruptcy days later. After a pattern of evasiveness about the exact amount of his money, the judge presiding over the bankruptcy case ordered Giuliani to begin paying the $148 million.
He still faces criminal charges in Georgia and Arizona resulting from his effort to help Trump overturn the 2020 election.
He is accused in Georgia of leading Trump’s efforts to convince state lawmakers to ignore the vote in favor of Biden and to illegally appoint Electoral College electors willing to vote for Trump. The Electoral College vote could then override the popular vote.
Giuliani so far has declined to admit wrongdoing.
His attorneys argued last month in a Phoenix, Arizona, court that Giuliani was exercising his rights to free speech with any of his actions and allegations of election fraud. They were trying to get charges against him dismissed.
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