Mary Trump's Lips Are Unsealed

Judge lifts gag order on eve of tell-all's publication
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 14, 2020 12:01 AM CDT
Updated Jul 14, 2020 5:05 AM CDT
Mary Trump Can Publicize Her Book, Judge Says
This combination photo shows the cover art for "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man", left, and a portrait of author Mary L. Trump, Ph.D.   (Simon & Schuster, left, and Peter Serling/Simon & Schuster via AP)

Mary Trump can talk about the highly critical book she wrote about her uncle, President Trump, over the objections of the president's brother, a judge ruled Monday as he lifted an order that had blocked her from publicizing or distributing her work. State Supreme Court Judge Hal B. Greenwald in Poughkeepsie, NY, rejected arguments by Robert Trump that Mary Trump is blocked from talking about family members publicly by an agreement relatives made to settle the estate of her father after his death. The judge said the confidentiality clauses in the 2001 agreement, “viewed in the context of the current Trump family circumstances in 2020, would ‘…offend public policy as a prior restraint on protected speech,'" the AP reports. “Notwithstanding that the Book has been published and distributed in great quantities, to enjoin Mary L. Trump at this juncture would be incorrect and serve no purpose. It would be moot."

Greenwald said the confidentiality agreement that settled multiple lawsuits mainly concerned the financial aspect of the deal, which isn't as interesting now as it might have been two decades ago. “On the other hand the non-confidential part of the Agreement, the Trump family relationships may be more interesting now in 2020 with a Presidential election on the horizon," the judge said. He also wrote that Robert Trump had not shown any damages that the book's publication would cause himself or the public. Robert Trump is not frequently mentioned in the book. The judge reversed orders he had issued temporarily blocking Mary Trump and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, from publishing or distributing a tell-all book about the president. An appeals judge had already lifted the order blocking Simon & Schuster. The book is out Tuesday and is already ranked No. 1 on the Amazon. (More Mary Trump stories.)

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