Lawyer: ruling on Trump civil fraud fine 'unsatisfying'

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A New York appeals court sided with President Donald Trump this week, resulting in the avoidance of a multi-million dollar fine that had been imposed as part of his February 2024 fraud conviction in a Manhattan court.

This week on Empire State Weekly, Paul DerOhannesian explained why that fine was struck down. He also detailed that despite the Trump organization's claim that this was a major victory, other factors are yet to be decided in court.

"We're still in the middle of the game. It's like the fifth inning, because this is going to go up to the Court of Appeals. The other significant issue is that there's really no agreement, except on one point, and that is that he shouldn't have been fined five hundred million dollars," DerOhannesian said. "But apart from that, the decision is very, quote 'unsatisfying,' because it doesn't give us any principles as lawyers that we can really follow. There's a good discussion on all sides of the issue, but that's the only point that they agreed on."

Also this week, National Grid and Central Hudson Gas & Electric customers got the news that their monthly bills would be increased. Central Hudson representative Joe Jenkins explained that the increases are to help the utility provider address operating costs. He also discussed the concern for the rate increases potentially impacting vulnerable populations.

"For our most vulnerable customers, if they do qualify for our low income bill discount program, they're actually going to see a decrease in the first year of this multi-year agreement for us," Jenkins said. "About a four percent decrease on electric and a very nominal increase on natural gas, about one percent. So we took great care to make sure that we minimize these impacts on our customers, because we understand that it's not just us, it's housing, it's groceries, it's automobile and gas."

To see more from these interviews, here is a list of where and when you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York: