WASHINGTON – A few are household names, like Rudy Giuliani. Some are more obscure but played critical roles in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.
More than two years after courts largely dismissed a flurry of lawsuits from allies of former President Donald Trump aimed at reversing the election, the debate over whether to punish the lawyers who filed those suits continues to play out across the nation.
The outcome of dozens of pending ethics investigations could eventually have consequences for the 2024 presidential election and beyond. Advocates say the goal of sanctioning attorneys for “Big Lie” lawsuits is to prevent another wave of Hail Mary litigation based on conspiracy theories in the future.
“The ultimate goal is to deter it,” said Michael Teter, managing director of the 65 Project, which has filed nearly 80 ethics complaints with state disciplinary boards. “From our standpoint, we wanted to make sure that lawyers know they’re not going to get away with this.”
Rudy Giuliani, who was a personal lawyer for former President Donald Trump, leaves the U.S. District Court in Washington on May 19. Two election workers in Fulton County, Ga., Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, sued Giuliani for defamation.
Is time running out in effort to punish Trump lawyers?
But Teter and others acknowledged the work has been slow going. And some of the cases may not be resolved by the time voting begins next year.
When lawyers are sanctioned, it’s usually for egregious conduct like stealing a client’s money or committing other crimes, said Bruce Green, a professor at Fordham Law School. Sanctioning a lawyer for what they put in a lawsuit is trickier.
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