Disbarment likely awaits Ameriprise advisor accused of storming Capitol on Jan. 6
Industry disbarment most likely lies in the future for a recently suspended Ameriprise advisor who was arrested this week on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Lee A. Giobbie, who has been at Ameriprise since 2017, was taken into custody on Tuesday over felony allegations related to civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding and misdemeanors concerning disorderly conduct at the Capitol building and similar charges. According to an FBI statement of facts, Giobbie was among the first rioters to enter the Capitol just over three years ago in protest of the 2020 election results, which many believed had been illegally tipped in favor of current President Joe Biden.
The statement cites video recordings made the day of the riots showing Giobbie calling on a crowd of protestors gathered in Washington, D.C., to push past bicycle racks set up as a barrier. After that line had been broken, he repeatedly yelled "the gates have been breached" and "we're going in."
Giobbie fought his way to the steps leading to a Capitol entrance and then was seen urging the crowd to "push, push, push, push" against the line of police officers who had fallen back as a last-ditch defense. Once inside, he quickly walked through the Senate rotunda, was briefly detained by an officer in a stairwell and then exited the building.
A spokesperson for Ameriprise said, "Upon learning of the federal indictment, we immediately suspended the advisor pending an investigation by our firm." The lawyer representing Giobbie — Hope C. Lefeber, a criminal defense attorney out of Philadelphia — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview earlier this week, NBC News quoted her as saying: "This man has not engaged in any subversive activities, has not been destructive in any way, has not done a damn thing since Jan. 6. Now we'll have to resolve this and see where this goes."
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Joe Wojciechowski, an investment fraud lawyer at Chicago-based Stoltman Law, said Giobbie's arrest sets the stage for a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority investigation that could eventually lead to permanent disbarment. He noted that most of the defendants arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riots have pleaded guilty rather than fighting the charges in court.
But even if Giobbie pleads to lesser crimes than the ones he's accused of, FINRA is unlikely to allow him to keep his industry credentials and licensing.
"It would be a layup type of case," Wojciechowski said. "It would absolutely be within their disciplinary rights to revoke his registration on a permanent basis."
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's office for the District of Columbia for the third anniversary of the riots, 718 of the 1,265 people so far charged with crimes related to the riots have gone on to plead guilty. Only 139 have been guilty at contested trials.
Of those who were sentenced, 467 were given periods of incarceration and 154 were put on home detention. The most common charge — made against 1,186 defendants — related to "entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or ground."
Giobbie's BrokerCheck page is free of disciplinary disclosures, including of his recent arrest. A FINRA spokesperson declined to comment on the case.
Lou Straney, a regulatory expert at Arbitration Insight, said it usually takes about 30 days for a criminal complaint disclosure to show up on BrokerCheck after formal proceedings have begun. Straney noted that many advisors who are subject to FINRA investigation simply refuse to go along with the proceedings.
"And if he doesn't show up, he's barred for sure," Straney said.
The FBI's complaint states law enforcement officials learned of Giobbie's participation in the Jan. 6 riots from a confidential informant who saw internet videos of him both outside and inside the Capitol. The informant was able to identify Giobbie because of a Philadelphia Eagles hat was wearing. Giobbie's Facebook page featured at least one photo in which he was wearing the same hat.
The videos, according to the bureau's statement of facts, show Giobbie standing early in the day on the east side of the Capitol near a line of bike racks that police had set up as a barricade. Holding a bull horn up to his cellphone, he amplified a broadcast of a speech then being delivered by former President Donald Trump at a park south of the White House known as the Ellipse.
Giobbie, according to the complaint, echoed the president when he said "stop the steal" — a popular rallying cry for people who question the 2020 election. When Trump said, "Does anyone believe Biden got 80 million votes?," Giobbie yelled, "No!"
According to Giobbie's BrokerCheck record, he has been in the industry for 17 years. Before Ameriprise, he was at Citigroup Global Markets from 2007 to 2009 and then Janney Montgomery Scott until 2017.
Wojciechowski noted that even if Giobbie lost his brokerage licenses, he would not necessarily be barred from acting as an investment advisor. Many brokers have seen their FINRA certifications pulled and continued working with clients by maintaining registration at the state level.
"And then sometimes you don't have any supervision, or any regulator who really pays attention to you," Wojciechowski said. "It's a big problem."
