Unless you live under a rock, or on that Island that Tom Hanks was cast away on, you know that Trump was hit with a $350m fine plus interest. You've probably read and seen a lot on the subject and I have a rather lengthy video from when this first hit so I'm not going to go into details or be long winded on the matter. Suffice it to say, this was a gangster move on by a gangster state. Hence the title.
Supposedly in America, you have the rule of law. Supposedly in this "free" society, we do not investigate people in search of crimes, but we investigate crimes to find people. That is, unless someone has been injured, the state ought not have any business prosecuting anyone. Actual harm is key. There have been many cases that have been dismissed because the complaining party has no standing because they are alleging future probable harm but no actual harm. NY apparently has a law on the books in which no harm need be presented.
If that wasn't bad enough, The US Constitution, which all states are bound by, explicitly prohibits excessive fines (along with cruel and unusual punishment).
In what world is $350m fine for an "offense" that had no actual harmed parties, not "excessive"? In what world is it that a $350m fine due to "fraud" where the alleged victims of said fraud would actually engage in more business with the person who 'defrauded" them?
Gangster world. That's where.
I was watching Goodfellas (again) and whenever someone fell out of favour with the bosses, they got whacked. Trump fell out of favour with the bosses and this was the assassination attempt. Despite claims to the contrary, Trump was pretty well liked in NY until he made that fateful descent down the escalator. Everybody knew Trump played all kinds of tricks to get and make deals (and he stiffed some people too). None of this was unknown by anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Trump. Generally speaking banks lent money to Trump because Trump was good for business. They knew he lied and "stretched the truth" to get what he wanted. They had accountants and lawyers who did the real investigating and loaned money to him anyway. A lot of them got paid even on Trump's many failures. What you think those bottles of "Trump water" were free to Trump?
New Yorkers knew the game and played the game, just like the gangsters in Goodfellas. But Trump crossed the line.
9% interest?
Daily?
That's gangster loanshark behavior and we all know it. Engoron should be disbarred and removed from the bench for that alone. So should James. Won't happen though.
Hochul all but admitted that this was a targeted hit with her recent comments. Other business people would be fools to think it's just Trump. That if they just keep their head down and "do business" they won't be caught up in an extortion scheme. They forgot that NYS previously went after gun sellers and the NRA for no other reason than anti-gun politics. Today you're safe because you are on the "right side" of the NY bosses. Tomorrow you could be the one getting the proverbial shot to the back of the head by the same people who you were laughing and playing cards with.