Giuliani permanently disbarred from practicing law in District of Columbia
(WASHINGTON) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been permanently disbarred from practicing law in the District of Columbia, a court of appeals panel ruled Thursday.
According to the ruling, Giuliani’s disbarment is a resort of reciprocal discipline resulting from his law license being stripped in New York state over his efforts aiding former President Donald Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 election.
Giuliani’s law license had already been suspended in D.C.
The appeals court panel noted that Giuliani declined to respond when given notice back in July that he could face reciprocal discipline.
In a report issued in July, the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended Giuliani be disbarred, saying that in his capacity as personal attorney to then-President Trump, he committed misconduct by his “frivolous and destructive” efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s win through his failed legal challenges to the election results in Pennsylvania.
According to the report, the former New York City mayor violated two legal ethics rules in bringing the lawsuit, which sought to block the certification of votes in the state following Trump’s defeat.
The committee said that one of the rules was violated when he filed the lawsuit in Pennsylvania “when he had no factual basis and no legitimate legal grounds to do so.”
The other rule Giuliani violated was Pennsylvania’s Rules of Professional Conduct, the report said.
“He claimed massive election fraud but had no evidence of it,” the committee wrote.
(NEW YORK) — A Pakistani national with purported ties to Iran was arrested last month on charges he plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump and multiple other public officials, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court.
While the criminal complaint does not mention Trump by name, multiple sources familiar with the case told ABC News one of the intended targets of the alleged plot was Trump. Other possible targets included government officials from both sides of the aisle, the sources said.
After spending time in Iran, Asif Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hitmen to carry out the alleged plot, according to a detention memo. The person he contacted was a confidential informant working with the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.
Merchant, 46, is charged with murder for hire.
Asif was arrested July 12, one day prior Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was shot in the ear.
“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens, and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security.”
Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, added, “Working on behalf of others overseas, Merchant planned the murder of U.S. government officials on American soil.”
In April, Merchant arrived from Iran and contacted someone to help with his plot, according to officials. The person ended up being a confidential source who reported the information to law enforcement, according to the Justice Department. Merchant allegedly again met up with the source in early June and explained the assassination plot and said it was “not a one-time opportunity,” officials said.
“Specifically, Merchant requested men who could do the killing, approximately 25 people who could perform a protest as a distraction after the murder occurred, and a woman to do ‘reconnaissance,'” the complaint said.
By mid-June, he met up with the people he thought would carry out the hits — but who were actually undercover law enforcement officials, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Merchant even paid the apparent hitmen $5,000 as an advance on the assassinations before making plans to leave the country when the killings took place, officials said. Instead, he was arrested on July 12, the date he planned to leave the U.S.
“Fortunately, the assassins Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI Agents,” acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office said in a statement. “This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston, and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI’s commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats.”
A final target had not been selected by the time Merchant made arrangements to fly out of the U.S., according to officials.
Investigators have said they’ve found no link between foreign operatives and Thomas Crooks, the 20-year-old shot and killed after he tried to assassinate Trump from a rooftop near the stage, but the arrest may help explain some last-minute adjustments to rally security.
“We were initially told that there was no Secret Service snipers coming but that was shifted either Thursday or Friday to indicate that there were,” Pat Young, head of the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, told ABC News. “We had been told that this is the first time that a non-sitting president had been allocated Secret Service snipers. So that threw up some alarm bells for some of our guys that — why the sudden shift — from one stance to the other?”
(NEW YORK) — Several New York City beaches will remain closed for the weekend due to strong rip currents from Hurricane Ernesto.
The Category 1 storm made landfall in Bermuda early Saturday, hovering slowly over the island throughout the day with hurricane-force winds and heavy rain. Although hundreds of miles offshore, the system is generating rip currents on the East Coast of the U.S., prompting the National Weather Service to issue alerts for high surf and riptides along much of the Atlantic coastline.
Waves in the Northeast have the potential of reaching up to 9 and 10 feet, according to the National Weather Service.
In New York City, beaches in Brooklyn, including Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach as well as the Rockaway and Riis beaches in Queens will be closed on Saturday and Sunday, the NYC Parks and the National Park Service announced at the start of the weekend. Swimming and wading are not permitted during the closure due to possibly life-threatening conditions from the rip currents.
“Our primary focus is keeping New Yorkers safe, so as the impacts of Tropical Storm Ernesto approach New York City, we are closing our ocean-facing beaches in Queens and Brooklyn this weekend to protect New Yorkers from dangerous rip currents,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Friday.
Video taken by ABC New York station WABC showed workers on Coney Island preparing the beach for the onslaught of powerful waves by reinforcing mounds of sand to protect from erosion.
On Long Island, berms were built to protect the delicate shoreline, which has suffered from beach erosion in recent years, WABC reported. One of the biggest concerns there is sea water coming in from the beachfront and flowing into low-lying regions, Jones Beach State Park Director Jeffrey Mason told WABC.
Beaches on Long Island were not closed for swimming, but beachgoers were advised by officials to use caution.
Ernesto will continue moving north and northeast and is expected to move off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada on Monday night as a weakening hurricane.
More storms are expected in the coming weeks, as September is typically the peak of the hurricane season, according to the National Hurricane Center.
(LOS ANGELES) — At least one person is dead after a Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus was hijacked with the driver being forced to drive at gunpoint before police were able to apprehend the suspect, according to authorities.
The incident began at approximately 12:45 a.m. when the Los Angeles Police Department received radio calls to a disturbance on a bus in the area of Manchester Street and Figueroa Street in southern Los Angeles, said Deputy Chief Donald Graham in a briefing to the media Wednesday morning. Initial reports said that there was a potential assault with a weapon before officers discovered the bus stopped at 117th St and Figueroa St.
However, when the LAPD tried to make contact with the people on the bus, the bus started to pull away from the responding officers which led to an hourlong pursuit into the downtown area, officials said.
The bus eventually ended at Alameda St. and 6th Street at approximately 2:10 a.m. after police deployed multiple spike strips and were able to puncture a tire on the right side of the vehicle. On the bus there were two passengers, the driver and suspect.
A SWAT team was immediately called in to assist in the hostage situation and were able to get on the bus and rescue two people, the driver and a passenger, Graham said in his briefing to the media.
The suspect surrendered immediately and was brought into custody. However, when police were clearing the bus, a fourth person was found on with multiple gunshot wounds.
The victim was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries. Two other patients declined treatment, authorities said.