• Rudy Giuliani was hit with an ethics charge by the DC bar over his false claims about election fraud.
  • The case centers around Giuliani's efforts to push baseless fraud accusations in a Pennsylvania court in 2020.
  • Giuliani was suspended from practicing law in New York last year for making false statements about the election.

Rudy Giuliani was hit with an ethics charge by the office that regulates attorneys in the District of Columbia on Friday over his false claims about election fraud.

The disciplinary branch of the DC bar said Giuliani pushed baseless claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election in a Pennsylvania court and accused him of violating two professional conduct rules in the state.

The charge brings Giuliani closer to losing the ability to practice law in the district, a year after he was suspended from practicing in New York over his election fraud claims.

The Friday filing outlines Giuliani's backing of a Trump campaign lawsuit that sought to overturn the results of the election in Pennsylvania.

The lawsuit argued that up to 1.5 million mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania should be disqualified based on claims they did not comply with the state's election laws.

The DC Bar charges allege that there was "no legal basis" for the claims.

The filing also says that Giuliani sought an emergency order to prohibit the certification of the presidential election and other orders to allow the state's assembly to choose its electors and declare Trump the winner in Pennsylvania.

Giuliani "brought a proceeding and asserted issues therein without a non-frivolous basis in law and fact for doing so" and "engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice," the court filing said.

The former New York City mayor had told a district court that he had 300 statements and affidavits that could prove his fraud allegations, according to the filing.

The DC Bar charges said the affidavits were "(a) unsupported, (b) unrelated to Trump voters (c) involve conduct outside the seven Defendant Counties, and (d) by their own terms were isolated incidents that could not have affected the presidential election's results by offsetting the Biden majority of over 80,000 votes."

The Pennsylvania lawsuit, which was filed days after the 2020 election, was ultimately dismissed.

Giuliani was admitted to the DC Bar in 1976, but his status became inactive in 2002. 

The disciplinary process will now move to a hearing phase where Giuliani will be able to respond to the allegations, according to CNN.

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