NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Scrambles to Get Businesses to Stay, Tries to Downplay Massive Fine Against Trump
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul found herself on the defensive following the ruling Feb. 16 that levied $355 million in fines and damages against former President Donald Trump and his company under a consumer fraud statute.
When interest is added in, the amount of damages New York Judge Arthur Engoron said Trump owes the state is over $450 million, the Associated Press reported.
The judge’s ruling also imposed a three-year ban on Trump serving as an officer or director of any New York company and bars his sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump for two years, which in effect requires the Trump Organization to find new leadership for the near term, at least.
Engoron determined that the Trump Organization inflated the value of their properties to obtain better loan terms.
Trump countered during the trial that all the loans from banks were paid in full, on time, so there were no victims. The banks actually made money by loaning his company the money.
Trump further contended that while he felt the values they gave their properties were fair, his financial statements included a disclaimer calling on banks to do their own due diligence.
On Feb. 18, John Catsimatidis, host of “The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM news radio, asked Hochul if other New York business people should be worried that if “they can do that to the former president, they can do that to anybody,” The Hill reported.
“I think that this is really an extraordinary, unusual circumstance that the law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are business people have nothing to worry about, because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior,” Hochul answered.
“By and large, [other business owners] are honest people, and they’re not trying to hide their assets, and they’re following the rules,” she added, but Engoron found that Trump did not.
In January, the AP reported that after analyzing 70 years of civil fraud cases under New York law, its researchers concluded that Trump’s case would be the “only big business found that was threatened with a shutdown without a showing of obvious victims and major losses.”
Trump referenced the AP’s findings at a rally in Michigan on Feb. 17, saying, “The case was brought under a consumer fraud statute that has never ever been used before for this purpose.”
“The case was brought under a consumer fraud statute that has never ever been used before for this purpose.”
Former President Donald Trump reacts to his NY civil fraud verdict.
More: https://t.co/H1OtuWWR2t pic.twitter.com/evW9TsDYb7
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 18, 2024
University of Michigan law professor William Thomas told the AP, “Who suffered here? We haven’t seen a long list of victims.”
Engoron ultimately opted not to order Trump’s business to be dissolved, but he temporarily took it away from him and his sons and imposed the massive fine.
George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill concerning the ruling, “[T]he court admitted that not a single dollar was lost by the banks from these dealings. Indeed, witnesses testified that they wanted to do more business with Trump, who was described as a ‘whale’ client with high yield business opportunities.”
“Undervaluing and overvaluing property is a longstanding practice in New York real estate,” he added.
“The impact on New York business is likely to be dire. New York is already viewed as a hostile business environment, with the top end of its tax base literally heading south as taxes and crime rises,” Turley argued. “This draconian award is only going to deepen concerns over the arbitrary application of the law.”
Appearing on Fox News after the ruling, Turley said, “In the name of protecting businesses in New York, you probably just led to hundreds of businesses looking at potential rentals in Florida because they look and they go, ‘Wow, if we fall on the wrong side of the politics in New York, they could sell us off for spare parts.’”
He felt that there is a good chance the ruling will be overturned or mitigated at the New York Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court.
Former President George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer told Fox News on Feb. 16 that Democratic officials could use the same type of legal means employed against Trump to go after other Republican businessmen seeking office.
“So unless the appeals process in New York comes to the rescue, New York has become a legal banana republic,” he added.
Democratic NY Governor Hochul effectively tells NY businesses not to worry–it was all about getting Trump. https://t.co/rbej7qCoN8
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) February 18, 2024
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton responded to Hochul’s reassurance that other businesses owners should not be worried about Engoron’s ruling, writing on X, “Democratic NY Governor Hochul effectively tells NY businesses not to worry — it was all about getting Trump.”
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