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TRUMP'S PENALTY COULD CAUSE NY BIZ EXODUS TO FL, AS NEW YORK STATE BECOMES
'LEGAL BANANA REPUBLIC': EXPERTS


NY AG LETITIA JAMES AND LIBERAL INTERESTS IN THE STATE APPEAR TO BE SEEKING A
POLITICAL 'DEATH BY EXPOSURE' OF TRUMP, ANALYSTS SAID

By Charles Creitz Fox News
Published February 16, 2024 6:07pm EST
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Legal experts analyzed what they called "breathtaking" civil penalties against
former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, former Trump
Organization Comptroller Jeffrey McConney and ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg – warning
other corporations based in the Empire State may realize they could suddenly be
put out of business by the state on a political whim.

New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable for more than
$350 million in damages in the fraud suit brought against him and his company by
New York State Democratic District Attorney Letitia James.

Trump Sr., the Trump Revocable Trust and Trump Organization were found liable
for $60 million, while Trump's sons and Weisselberg were found liable for $4.01
million each – and Trump Sr. plus several entities including the Trump
Organization and the LLC signifying Trump's Chicago hotel were banned from
applying for loans with institutions registered with New York for three years.

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The three Trump family members were also banned from serving as executives of
any business or legal entity based in New York for a similar length – which is
key, as the Trump Organization is housed at its iconic tower at 5 Av and E. 57th
Street.



In that regard, former Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told Fox
News the ban may spur Trump to relocate his entire business empire to Florida,
just as he has his primary residence.

"If you're Eric [or] Donald Junior, what are you going to do?" he asked.

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"[Y]ou just say goodbye to New York, which fits a pattern that many successful
people have been doing and leaving New York because New York is just too
political, too blue and too punitive – you're seeing that in the business
community and among upper income New Yorkers already," he said – adding the
state's crime wave accentuates the issue.

George Washington University Law Prof. Jonathan Turley further commented to Fox
News that Engoron appeared to compound the highest fine figures in most of the
areas adjudicated – noting that New York's civil law in this area is unique
because the proverbial crime can essentially be victimless.

"[It's] an odd one because it does not require that anyone actually lose money.
And so James was able to come in here with this [fraud] figure, and she kept on
going up."

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Turley said the public and other legal officials may indeed take note of Trump
world's penalty, because, "when you're imposing fines larger than the budget of
some countries, you really have to wonder whether you've allowed your thoughts
to run away with your judgment."

Fleischer noted that New York's justice system has descended into a
quasi-political entity, in that liberals and Democrats have been placed at the
highest levers of power for the past few decades.

A young Donald Trump stands outside his namesake 5 Av tower, headquarters of the
Trump Organization (Getty )

He noted that New York County, which is Engoron's purview and contains Manhattan
Island and Marble Hill, has voted on average 85 percent to 15 percent Democratic
in presidential elections going back to his former boss Bush's first race in
2000.

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New York State hasn't awarded its electoral votes to a Republican since Ronald
Reagan, and only sided substantively with a losing GOP candidate once: when
Thruway namesake Gov. Thomas Dewey lost to President Harry Truman in 1948.

Fleischer called Engoron's ruling a legal extension of liberal activists
successfully pressing to have Trump's name stripped from buildings in New York
City. 

Officials have also squabbled over land Trump had donated to New York State for
parkland. To signify the 2006 gift, 436 acres in Westchester County were named
"Donald J. Trump State Park" and large signage was posted on the nearby Taconic
Parkway. 

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In what WCBS reported to be the seventh attempt to strip Trump's name from the
park, State Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Greenwich Village put forward legislation to do
so last year.

Residents of a high-rise in then-Rep. Jerry Nadler's, D-N.Y. district in 2016
voted to strip Trump's name from their complex, as Trump later took to X – then
Twitter – to rail against the lawmaker's long-ago fight with him over the land
when the then-Judiciary chairman launched the Russia probe.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

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"There's very little pressure pushing back on these politicians here (in New
York) to stop doing it because it's wrong," Fleischer added.

"So unless the appeals process in New York comes to the rescue, it's become a
legal banana republic."

Turley told "The Story" that when Trump very likely appeals the decision, the
appellate court – which is higher than the districted Supreme Court in New York
– will have to determine whether the former president was subject to a selective
prosecution.

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He pointed to James' campaign promises which included plans to "be a real pain
in [Trump's] a--."

"Clearly, James made this pledge that she was going to bag Donald Trump. And it
is part of an overall campaign that seems to be an effort at ‘death by exposure’
both on the civil and criminal side."

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a
B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.


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