Well said, it’s abhorrent to democracy the idea that the government could target for harassment (through baseless investigations) people for doing business in a neutral manner with their political opponents. The principle that protections from government abuse include attempts to create a private cause of action and use the courts to enforce undemocratic mandates.

That said I don’t think a “regulatory death penalty” is a workable idea, rather, New York’s regulators should be placed under a federal consent decree requiring a neutral outside party to review their actions for impermissable 1st amendment violations.

In a free society, you simply cannot have the abuse that is happening here. And that abuse is all the more dangerous because it can be hidden from the victims. To choose a regulatory response based on political views is un-American.