Judge rejects Trump family’s attempt to block publication of niece’s revelation
Erin Schaff | Bloomberg | fake pictures
A New York judge rejected an effort by President Donald Trump’s brother to stop publication of a book by the president’s niece, Mary Trump, on Thursday.
Judge Peter Kelly’s ruling in the Queens County Substitute Court came just days after a legal filing by Trump’s brother Robert Trump, who had said that Mary Trump would be violating a confidentiality agreement if the book is published. .
“The court has quickly and correctly held that it lacks jurisdiction to grant the Trump family’s unfounded request to delete a book of the utmost public importance,” Mary Trump’s attorney Theodore Boutrous said in a statement to CNBC.
“We hope this decision will end 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 central political discourse,” Boutrous said.
The book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Most Dangerous Man in the World,” will be published on July 28. The president has said that his niece is bound by a confidentiality agreement and that “she is not allowed to write a book.”
Robert Trump’s attorney in the case, Charles Harder, is known for representing President Trump, including in a lawsuit filed by adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The White House and Harder did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.
Judge Kelly found “various irregularities” with Robert Trump’s presentation, according to his ruling. In particular, Kelly noted, the filing was made in connection with a probate proceeding in the Court of Substitutes for the Estate of Fred Trump Sr., the late father of Robert and Donald Trump.
That estate case ended in 2001, and as a result is “non-existent” in the Subrogation Court, Kelly wrote.
Kelly suggested that Robert Trump could continue his request for a court order against Mary Trump and her editor, Simon & Schuster, in the New York State Supreme Court.
The Daily Beast reported Thursday that Robert Trump had started the lawsuit days after he was released from the Mount Sinai Hospital neuroscience intensive care unit.
Simon & Schuster has said the Mary Trump book is a “revealing and authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that created it.”
This is breaking news. Please check for updates.
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