A New York judge has tossed an application by President Donald Trump’s brother to try and halt the publication of his niece Mary Trump’s book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
Queens County Surrogate Court Judge Peter Kelly cited “several improprieties” in Robert Trump’s filing that rendered it “fatally defective”—including that it was based on the official disposition of patriarch Fred Trump Sr.’s estate, which wrapped up in 2001 and is thus for legal purposes “nonexistent.” That settlement included a confidentiality clause that niece Mary Trump signed, and which the elder Trumps have argued prevents her from publishing the sort of titillating family secrets her memoir is set to contain.
But Kelly asserted that his court could not provide the declaratory judgment blocking the book that Robert sought, and recommended the Trump brother try his luck in the New York State Supreme Court, which oversees civil and criminal matters. The Surrogate Court strictly handles the wills and assets of the deceased.
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A spokesman for Simon and Schuster, Adam Rothberg, said in a statement, “We are delighted with Judge Kelly’s decision to dismiss this case from the Surrogate Court. We look forward to publishing Mary L. Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough, and are confident we will prevail should there be further efforts to stifle this publication.”
"Under the scenario presented, it cannot be successfully argued this dispute affects the administration of the decedent's estate," Kelly wrote. “The irrefutable conclusion is, regardless of the outcome of this matter, the administration of this estate will not be impacted one iota.
“Accordingly, the matter is dismissed.”
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Mary Trump’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said the ruling showed the court lacked jurisdiction. “We hope this decision will end the matter. Democracy thrives on the free exchange of ideas, and neither this court nor any other has authority to violate the Constitution by imposing a prior restraint on core political speech.”
A person familiar with the matter said it was likely the request for a restraining order against the book’s publication would be refiled in another court.
Indeed, Robert Trump’s celebrity lawyer, Charles Harder, told The Daily Beast, “Robert Trump, Mary Trump and the other family members who settled in 2001, agreed to jurisdiction of future disputes in the Surrogate’s Court of Queens County, New York. This matter therefore was filed in that court. Today, the Surrogate’s Court ruled that it does not have jurisdiction over the dispute. Therefore, Robert Trump will proceed with filing a new lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court.”
The Daily Beast first reported that Mary had written a “harrowing and salacious” tell-all book which is slated to be released July 28 and is expected to blow the lid off the Trump family. As The Beast revealed yesterday, Robert Trump was in a Neurosciences ICU with a serious condition just days before he filed the order to try to halt the publication of Mary’s book.
Fred C Trump File No 1999 3949 A by catherine_fenlon on Scribd
