Exclusive | Trump admin and Gov. Hochul in war of words over explosive claims she threatened president with her power over NY appeal judges
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.”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 Cabine...