- The Washington Times - Monday, March 25, 2024

New York Republicans say Attorney General Letitia James’ vendetta against former President Donald Trump is the latest proof that Democrats have turned the state’s courts into a political retribution machine.

They say business owners in New York City and across the state must acquiesce to Democrats’ political agendas and cooperate with the party’s incumbents who control the levers of government.

Mr. Trump has been hit with city and state lawsuits for paying hush money to an adult-film actress in 2016, decades-old sexual assault allegations and business fraud. He did notch a victory Monday when a whopping $464 million bond for the fraud case was slashed to $175 million while he appeals.

“This is a real serious issue. Why would you ever want to do business in New York state? What if they didn’t like the business you’re in?” said Rep. Claudia Tenney, New York Republican.

“Say you’re producing propane for people in upstate New York and they decide they didn’t like you. Are they going to prosecute you and put up a bond that you can’t pay and run you out of business?”

Former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican who ran a failed campaign against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said businesses want to play it safe and not risk being on the “wrong team.”


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“[The Democrats] control all the levers of government. They control the permits and the agencies and all that,” he said. “And unlike some other places where they’ll give to both sides, in New York, they’re afraid to do that.

“I had millions of conversations with high-ranking real estate developers and others in the New York business community — probably all of whom wanted me to win and very few of whom donated because they were afraid,” he said.

Critics say beef producer JBS and the National Rifle Association are examples of organizations put through the legal wringer in New York for political reasons.

In February, Ms. James filed a lawsuit against JBS, the world’s largest beef producer, for making “fraudulent and illegal” marketing claims about its climate change efforts.

The lawsuit says the company made fraudulent claims about achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

The beef giant’s business is out of step with the left-wing agenda, and its political action committee overwhelmingly favors Republican candidates.

Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey recently wrote in an opinion article that the JBS lawsuit is another example where Ms. James uses the state’s “legal apparatus to punish individuals and industries unpopular with the left.”

“Half the world’s 2,000 largest publicly listed corporations state that they aspire to be net zero by 2040, but very few have concrete plans on how to get there,” said Ms. McCaughey, a Republican.

In 2020, Ms. James sought to dissolve the NRA, which is despised by the left. Her effort failed when New York Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen ruled in 2022 that the allegations of fraud and misappropriation of funds did not warrant a “corporate death penalty.”

A jury found former NRA Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre and former Chief Financial Officer Wilson “Woody” Phillips liable for financial misconduct and corruption. Mr. LaPierre was ordered to pay $4.4 million, and Mr. Phillips was ordered to pay $2 million.

In an amicus brief, 16 Republican attorneys general said Ms. James’ attempt to dissolve the NRA revealed that her lawsuit was not about protecting NRA members but crushing their First Amendment rights.

“Supposedly to protect the NRA’s members, the New York AG seeks to kill the NRA. It is difficult to fathom how it would serve those members’ interests to disband the advocate they support. Dissolving the NRA would leave its members with less of a voice,” the attorneys general wrote.

“The New York AG campaigned for office on a platform of taking down the NRA by any means possible. And both her campaign rhetoric and statements since taking office leave little doubt that she has targeted the NRA because she disagrees with its political speech and zealous defense of the Second Amendment.”

Before she was elected attorney general, Ms. James campaigned on prosecuting Mr. Trump. She called him an “illegitimate president” who should be “indicted for criminal offenses” and “charged with obstructing justice.”

During Mr. Trump’s trial, she said, “I will be shining a bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings and every dealing demanding truthfulness at every turn.”

Ms. James’ office and the New York Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment.

Republicans in the New York State Legislature are blasting Ms. James for “blatant political motivations” in the Trump case that are obvious to other business people.

“Democrats didn’t need to give entrepreneurs another reason to leave — that’s already happening,” New York State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said in a statement to The Washington Times. He said investors have publicly expressed concerns about the lawsuit.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, met with state lawmakers to try to assuage fears about the business environment, he said.

“There’s a long list of problems with doing business in New York, and the case against President Trump simply added to it,” Mr. Barclay said.

• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.

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