As any common-sense person knows, the Letitia James-Arthur Engoron ruling against former President Trump was nothing more than political persecution. 

As Byron York wrote today, New York AG James has been campaigning for years to bring financial and political ruin on President Trump. Hear it for yourself: 

LETITIA JAMES: "No one is above the law, including this illegitimate president and so, I look forward to going into the office of AG every day suing him, defending your rights." 

DOORDASH SAYS DATA SHOWS SEATTLE PAY RULES HAVE CAUSED 'UNPRECEDENTED DROP' IN BUSINESS 

By the way, why isn't that fomenting insurrection? This was in 2018 and James found her cat's paw in Engoron, who is basically a Democratic clubhouse politician. That’s all he is. Meanwhile, regarding the facts of the case, there were no victims, no damages, no consumer complaints. There were satisfied banks and other lenders who made a ton of money doing business with the Trump Organization. 

Mr. Trump hired tens of thousands of people and paid over $300 million in taxes to the city and state of New York over time. He virtually changed the skyline of the city. He once rebuilt the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park that New York politicians spent years failing to do, and then gave great happiness to parents and their kids all over the city in the process. 

As these left-wing Democrats weaponize their arsenal of judicial power, they have imposed draconian conditions, even on President Trump's appeal process. As a non-lawyer, my understanding is that, in order to get to the New York appellate court, Mr. Trump must post some kind of "guaranteed surety" bond in order to cover payment if the trial judgement is ever affirmed. Stay with me on this one. 

This would be a bond secured with collateral, like cash or letters of credit from banks or other investment-type assets, including real estate. Essentially, and bear with me on this folks, one party has to guarantee another party's obligation to a third party. 

Making this potentially even more difficult, the Engoron decision bans any borrowing from New York banks. In other words, one party has to guarantee Mr. Trump's obligation to the satisfaction of the court in order to get it into the Court of appeals. The Engoron decision, by the way, bans any borrowing from New York banks. That makes it even tougher. I don't know if that allows insurance companies or not to guarantee a bond. I just don’t know. The sum-total here could be up to $450 million including interest, and then presumably the money for the bond is deposited to the court and held in escrow pending the actual appeal. 

These hyper-punitive conditions reveal again the nature of the political prosecution the New York Democrats are imposing on Trump. There is no proportionality to what this weaponized court has done. That is why eminent jurist Jonathan Turley has called this "insidious." 

Where exactly did this number of $355 million, plus another hundred for interest, come from? Nobody knows. It's arbitrary. It could have well come from the White House. It could have well come from the Oval Office, where Biden and his cronies would love to throw Trump in jail for 700 years and take his businesses away and rob him of his money. 

Political prosecution, Soviet-style, is what this is. Of course, the decision like this will deter or prevent businesses from coming into New York, city or state. 

That's the easy part – free choice, but where is President Trump's free choice? Where is his freedom? His freedom to start a business, run a business, succeed in business, spread prosperity everywhere he goes? 

Where is his free speech, his First Amendment right? Where is Donald Trump's right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness? Certainly not in the Letitia James-Arthur Engoron court. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the December 20, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."