Former New York mayor Giuliani disbarred for 2020 election lies

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was disbarred on Tuesday for repeatedly making false statements about the 2020 presidential election lost by Donald Trump.

The sanction of the 80-year-old Giuliani, who spearheaded Trump's legal efforts to overturn his election defeat, was handed down by a state appeals court in New York.

Giuliani "repeatedly and intentionally made false statements ... concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country's electoral process," the court said.

"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."

Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December after being ordered by a jury to pay $148 million in damages for defaming two Georgia poll workers with false claims they engaged in election fraud.

The former New York mayor has also been indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia along with Trump and others for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

He also faces election-related charges in Arizona.

Giuliani was New York mayor from 1994 to 2001, guiding the city through the shock of the September 11 attacks and becoming known as "America's Mayor" -- before signing up as Trump's personal lawyer while he was in the White House.

Giuliani's license to practice law has already been suspended in New York and in Washington for "false and misleading statements" he made as part of his efforts to overturn the results of the election won by Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son, has also filed a lawsuit against Giuliani accusing him of computer fraud for accessing personal data on his computer.

In 2020, in a bid to embarrass Biden ahead of the election, Giuliani and Trump allies circulated data from a laptop that Hunter Biden had abandoned at a computer repair shop in Delaware.