The Issue: The first hearing of New York’s $250 million fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump.
Nobody should be surprised by the fact that former President Donald Trump keeps rising in the polls, despite being sued by Trump-haters (“Tish’d off!” Oct. 3).
Americans are fair people and do not like to see the deck stacked, which both the Biden administration’s Justice Department and New York state are doing.
Tuesday’s trial was a perfect example. Rather than taking the proceedings seriously, the judge was acting for the cameras and making it look more like a reality-TV show.
But the most egregious part of this is that New York is trying to take advantage of an arcane piece of law that allows an indictment, despite there being no victim.
The facts don’t matter when you are persecuting somebody.
Larry Hootnick
Watermill
The legal “process” is the punishment for Trump. They will just keep charging him and let him be punished by eternal legal fees and time wasted in court.
If he’s found innocent, he will not get a penny back.
Don Schwarz
Stoughton, Mass.
Dragging Trump into court and accusing him of fraud in evaluating his wealth is ludicrous and obviously political.
In reality, a majority of entrepreneurs could be hauled into court for a practice that is often overlooked, unless the person involved is Republican.
Yet Trump is targeted and harassed by the inconsequential and biased James, simply because he is a potential winner in the 2024 presidential election.
This action highlights the threatening attitude toward business in New York state and will only add to the caravan of fleeing investors, leaving due to an unfriendly attitude toward the wealthy in the fanatical quest for equity.
Soon, there will be no taxes from the high earners to compensate for the low- and non-paying loafers and criminals whom James favors.
Anthony Bruno
Smithtown
Trump showed his anger in front of the New York trial court.
This is because Attorney General Tish James is suing the Trump organization for fraud. This case could cost $250 million and prevent Trump from doing business in New York.
What Trump did by over-inflating his net worth on legal documents is not legal. If I had done this, I would face heavy fines. Maybe Trump believed that is how business is done, but the bottom line is that no one is above the law.
Frederick Bedell, Jr.
Bellerose
It is time for Republicans to show their support for Trump.
Democrats are going after him to prevent him from running and in retaliation for the investigation into President Biden and Hunter Biden.
They stand behind Joe Biden, even with all the evidence against him, and Republicans should be outraged by the witch hunt of Trump and start fighting for him every day.
Charles Yannelli
Barnegat, NJ
Trump is absolutely right in calling the $250 million fraud lawsuit a witch-hunt, led by hate-mongering Attorney General James and presided over by Judge Arthur Engoron, who acts more like a cartoon character than a justice.
Trump is one of the few who has the courage to stand up to this roguery.
Hopefully, justice will be served and Trump will find his way back to the White House and put frauds such as James and Engoron on the run.
Nicholas Maffei
Yonkers
I am not a financial genius; however, I do know that without a victim there is no crime.
It’s not like Trump was borrowing money from senile old ladies. These were some of America’s largest banks. If the lenders really wanted to know the value of Trump’s assets, they knew who to call.
The banks wanted the prestige of loaning large sums to America’s “Mr. Hyperbole.” Both sides knew what game they were playing. Let’s call a charade, a charade.
Miles E. Kuttler
Aventura, Fla.
Want to weigh in on today’s stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to [email protected]. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.