The New York State Bar Association has launched an investigation into possibly removing US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, from the organisation.
The non-profit association announced Monday that it was launching the inquiry in response to Mr Giuliani's role last week in allegedly inciting a mob to storm Capitol Hill in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying the election results cementing president-elect Joe Biden's victory over Mr Trump.
The New York State Bar Association cited Mr Giuliani's remarks during a rally he held with Mr Trump shortly before thousands who attended ransacked the Capitol.
“If we’re wrong, we will be made fools of, but if we’re right, a lot of them will go to jail,” said Mr Giuliani. “Let’s have trial by combat.”
In a press release, the New York State Bar Association said “the president did not act alone”.
"Hours before the angry mob stormed the Capitol walls, [Mr] Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, addressed a crowd of thousands at the White House, reiterating baseless claims of widespread election fraud in the presidential election and the Georgia US Senate run-offs," the statement said.
The organisation said it had received "hundreds of complaints in recent months" regarding dozens of failed lawsuits that Mr Giuliani organised on behalf of Mr Trump to challenge the election results in multiple states with unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud.
US courts have dismissed 63 lawsuits introduced by Mr Trump since the election.
“These efforts included the commencement and prosecution of court actions in multiple states without any evidentiary basis whatsoever,” the New York State Bar Association wrote. “In each and every instance, these actions were appropriately dismissed by the courts in which they were brought.”
The organisation said it would provide Mr Giuliani with “due process” in the inquiry, noting that he would “have an opportunity – should he so choose – to explain and defend his words and actions.”
Mr Giuliani first rose to national prominence while serving as mayor of New York City after the September 11 attacks. He won his mayoral election with a tough-on-crime platform, touting his record as a federal prosecutor targeting mafia bosses.
He launched a failed attempt to become the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 and went on to join Mr Trump’s personal legal team in 2018.
