In the wake of Friday’s trial verdict that fined former President Donald Trump nearly $355 million and banned him from doing business in New York for three years for alleged over-valuation of his properties, Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to assure New York business owners that the state is not targeting them for potential prosecution.
TheHill.com reported Hochul, a Democrat, appeared on a New York City radio talk show this weekend and insisted the Trump case was an anomaly.
“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,” said Hochul, adding business owners have nothing to fear because “by and large, they are honest people and they’re not trying to hide their assets and they’re following the rules. And so this judge determined that Donald Trump did not follow the rules.”
The governor added she did not have the authority to overrule Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision because “the governor of the state of New York does not have a say in the size of a fine, and we want to make sure that we don’t have that level of interference.”
