Rudy Giuliani loses New York law license after court found he lied about the 2020 election

WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani lost his New York law license on Tuesday, after a state appeals court found he had lied in arguing that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from his client, former President Donald Trump.

The court found that Giuliani, the former New York mayor who served as personal lawyer to Trump, "baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process" and "actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant."

“In so doing, respondent not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant,” the court ruled.

Giuliani was one of the leading proponents of false claims that widespread voter fraud contributed to Trump's loss in the 2020 election.

He is prohibited from practicing law “in any form" and appearing as an attorney or counselor-at-law before any public authority, among other things.

Giuliani had previously been ordered by a judge to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgia election workers. Though he had attempted to dismiss the judgement, he lost his bid in April, according to ABC News.

Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said in a statement that, "members of the legal community who respect the rule of law in this country should immediately come forward and speak out against this politically and ideologically corrupted decision."

"We will be appealing this objectively flawed decision in hopes that the appellate process will restore integrity into our system of justice," Goodman said.

Contributing: Andrew Goudsward, Reuters, David Jackson, USA TODAY