‘A New Low in a Stunning Fall’: CNN Legal Analyst Breaks Down Rudy Giuliani’s Law License Suspension

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig outlined the dramatic implications Rudy Giuliani faces now that his law license has been suspended by the state of New York.

Honig joined CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Thursday to talk about the New York State Supreme Court’s ruling to suspend Giuliani’s license in direct connection with his work on behalf of former President Donald Trump. The ruling states Giuliani made “demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts” in that capacity, plus his conduct “immediately threatens the public interest and warrants interim suspension from the practice of law.”

“This is a new low in a stunning fall for Rudy Giuliani,” Honig said. “There was a time — I know it’s hard to remember — when Rudy Giuliani was one of the most respected lawyers and prosecutors in the country. He was the head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, an office I worked in decades later. Now he’s been kicked out temporarily for practicing law in New York state. That’s a very big deal.”

Honig went on by explaining that it’s “very, very rare” for this to happen since “lawyers can get away with quite a bit” while representing their clients.

“A lot of times, your client maybe has done wrong. But what you cannot do as a lawyer is just lie,” Honig said. “You cannot make demonstrably false…and dangerous statements, particularly if those statements could endanger the public interest as this court found Rudy Giuliani did. This does not happen every day by any stretch. This is a very rare thing and a very extreme thing for the court to do.”

Honig also noted that this happened while Giuliani remains under a federal criminal investigation for his questionable work connected to Ukraine. He also said things could get “really ugly” if Giuliani tries to appeal the suspension.

“On the one hand, Giuliani is a fighter and always likes to fight back,” he assessed. “On the other hand, maybe he’s smart enough to realize that he’s going to be picking a losing fight here.”

Watch above, via CNN.