The D.C. Bar’s disciplinary counsel recommended Thursday that Rudy Giuliani be disbarred after a hearing panel speculated that he may have violated a professional conduct rule while questioning the 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania.

The panel did not specify what rule Giuliani may have violated and said that its determination was preliminary and nonbinding. It plans to release a final decision in several weeks.

Hamilton “Phil” Fox, of the District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel, called for the harshest penalty for Giuliani, disbarment, saying Giuliani tried to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

Said Fox:

“Any lawyer that engages in this kind of misconduct, harming the country as this has done, has at least got to realize that his or her law license is at risk.”

At the conclusion of the proceedings, Giuliani expressed outrage towards the panel for allowing Fox to assert what he characterized as a personal attack. Giuliani’s lawyer, John Leventhal, argued a minor disciplinary measure, like a letter of reprimand or private admonition, arguing that the disciplinary counsel’s arguments rely heavily on politics.

“We feel that the least serious discipline should be imposed, otherwise you’re going to chill effective advocacy in the future,” Leventhal said.

A New York appellate court suspended Giuliani’s law license last year when he began to question the 2020 election results while serving as Trump’s lawyer. Giuliani’s D.C. law license was temporarily suspended after the New York decision.

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