Kelly rejected the legal request, calling it “fatally flawed.”
“This forum is allegedly inappropriate,” the judge wrote in a four page order. “It cannot be successfully argued that this dispute affects the administration of the estate of the deceased.”
The attorney who filed the request, Charles Harder, said he would take the request to another New York court.
“Robert Trump, Mary Trump, and the other family members who settled in 2001, agreed to the jurisdiction of future disputes in the Queens County, New York Substitute Court. Therefore, this matter was filed in that court, “Harder said in a statement. “Today, the substitute court ruled that it has no jurisdiction over the dispute. Therefore, Robert Trump will proceed with the filing of a new lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. “
An attorney for Simon & Schuster, the publisher of the upcoming Mary Trump book, welcomed the ruling.
“The court has quickly and correctly held that it lacks jurisdiction to grant the Trump family’s unfounded request to delete a book of paramount importance and public concern,” attorney Ted Boutrous said in a statement. “We hope this decision ends the matter. Democracy thrives on the free exchange of ideas, and neither this court nor any other has the authority to violate the Constitution by imposing a prior restriction on the central political discourse. “
The title of Mary Trump’s book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Most Dangerous Man in the World,” seems to leave little doubt that he will be poorly received by the President and his allies. The book’s cover features a black-and-white photo of Trump when he was young.
In an interview last week, the president said his niece was legally prohibited from writing about the family.
“You are not allowed to write a book,” Trump he said to Axios. He described the confidentiality agreement as “very powerful.” … covers everything. “