by Miranda Devine
As the New York appellate panel deciding Donald Trump’s appeal of a $480 million fraud penalty drags into its second year, Gov. Hochul stands accused of using her power over state judges to implicitly threaten the president.
White House sources claim Hochul told Trump “I control the judges” during a February meeting in the Oval Office to discuss policy issues such as the Manhattan congestion tax.
Hochul emphatically denies making the statement.
But the president, sources said, perceived the conversation as an implicit threat relating to his appeal against a civil fraud ruling in February 2024 by New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who ordered Trump to pay $364 million for allegedly inflating his net worth 15 years ago to secure better bank loan terms.
A legal source familiar with the Oval Office discussion said the governor asked the president to drop his opposition to the $9 congestion tax she has imposed on New Yorkers, abandon a gas pipeline he favors and provide federal funding for wind projects and an upgrade of Penn Station.
Hochul is making demands while “keeping the [appeal] hanging over his head,” said the source. “It feels like extortion and blackmail.”
‘Gov never said this’
The governor’s spokesman Avi Small says somebody may have misheard or be lying — and it’s not Hochul.
“Governor Hochul has never said this, or anything similar, to President Trump or anyone,” Small claimed. “The Governor respects the independence of the judiciary, has never attempted to interfere in ongoing cases, and does not have any role to play in the judicial process — nor did she ever say that she did.
“Someone must have completely misheard the governor during this conversation, or they’re purposefully lying to advance a political agenda.”
A senior Trump administration official said: “Of course she would deny attempting to extort the president of the United States. Just like she denied overseeing the weaponization of justice in her own state.”
Meanwhile, a Cabinet member present at the one-hour Oval Office meeting did not contradict the president’s recollection of his conversation with Hochul but could not provide details of what was said when contacted by The Post.
Another Cabinet source who did not attend the meeting said Hochul has since tried to ingratiate herself with Trump by offering to rename the Moynihan Train Hall after him.
In response, Small told The Post that the governor considered the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan a “mentor” and that “under no circumstances would she ever propose changing the name of Moynihan Train Hall.”
He added, however: “The governor did make a lighthearted joke about how to get President Trump interested in contributing federal funds to renovate Penn Station.”
‘Dragging their heels’
The extraordinary 14-month delay in deciding Trump’s appeal is almost three times longer than the average wait in the New York Appellate Division, First Department, according to legal experts.
“In the ordinary course, an appeal in the First Department is decided about five to six months from the date an appellant files an opening brief and record,” says senior appellate counsel Bill White of Counsel Press LLC.
Trump’s lawyers filed his appeal on Feb. 26 last year, and the court held an oral argument hearing in September.
“It is obvious that they are dragging their heels,” says legendary trial attorney Joe Tacopina, who has acted for Trump in other cases.
He calls the 14-month delay “insane and obviously another ‘special treatment’ for Trump.”
He said: “After oral argument or submission, the court usually issues a decision within a couple of months, though it can sometimes take longer depending on the complexity of the case or the court’s docket.”
A spokesman for the Clerk of the Appellate Division, First Department, said: “We don’t discuss pending matters before the court.”
As governor since 2021, Hochul has the authority to appoint judges across various courts. New York’s unique judicial selection system gives her an extraordinary level of control not enjoyed by many other state governors, particularly in the Appellate Division, where there is no need for Senate confirmation, giving her more direct influence.
Hochul did not appoint any of the five First Department judges who are deciding Trump’s appeal: Dianne Renwick, David Friedman, Peter Moulton, John Higgitt and Llinét Rosado.
However, Hochul elevated Renwick to presiding justice in 2023, and the other judges rely on Hochul to reappoint them every five years.
AG’s taunting
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump, his company, and his sons, has taunted the president on social media about the $112,000 daily interest accruing on his penalty, which now exceeds $480 million.
Trump’s lawyers were optimistic after his appeal was heard on Sept. 26, 2024, when some of the judges expressed skepticism about the attorney general’s theory of the case.
Judge Friedman questioned whether the AG’s office had ever before used the same law “to upset a private business transaction,” noting Trump’s transactions were with “some of the most sophisticated actors in business,” like Deutsche Bank.
He noted that nobody “lost any money.”
Judge Moulton said “the immense penalty in this case is troubling” and noted “the parties left these transactions happy.”
He also questioned the AG’s “mission creep,” wondering if the statute had “morphed into something that it was not meant to do?”
Judge Higgitt was concerned that the AG may be “going into an area where she doesn’t have jurisdiction.”
But there has been radio silence from the judges in the seven months since they made those promising comments.
Weaponized justice
If Trump wins, he will still be out of pocket for the costs he incurred securing the bond required to lodge the appeal. In March, the appellate court lowered the bond required from $464 million (the full amount with interest at the time) to $175 million. The only way to recoup his costs, likely to be several million dollars, will be to sue the state of New York.
Trump’s lawyers accused James of weaponizing the New York justice system to target a political adversary and said Judge Engoron demonstrated “tangible and overwhelming” bias during the trial.
James campaigned in 2018 for the position of attorney general on taking down Trump, who she called an “illegitimate president” and an “embarrassment.”
In return, Trump has called her a “racist prosecutor” conducting a “witch hunt” against him.
Weeks after being inaugurated, the president stripped James of her security clearance, barring her from accessing classified information and entering federal facilities like courthouses, US attorneys’ offices or FBI field offices.
Ironically, this week James was referred to the DOJ for criminal charges by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over allegations she committed mortgage fraud by falsifying records to receive favorable loan terms on her properties in Virginia and New York.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
