Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is celebrating a minor victory, as a New York judge let his case against his niece Mary Trump proceed the day after Mr. Trump announced his federal indictment.
On Friday, Judge Robert R. Reed, a New York state judge, denied Mary Trump’s motion to dismiss a case brought by the former president alleging she violated a confidentiality agreement from 2001 involving the estate of his father.
The court reasoned Mr. Trump had a valid breach of contract claim, denying Ms. Trump’s request.
“Plaintiff has established, at least at this pre-discovery stage, ’a substantial basis in law’ for the pursuit of such claim,” the judge wrote.
Some of the former president’s financial records were used as part of the probate dispute among family members. Mr. Trump alleges his niece used those confidential documents for her 2020 book “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” and gave the information two years prior to The New York Times.
Alina Habba, an attorney for Mr. Trump, said they plan to hold Ms. Trump accountable for her “blatant breach of confidentiality obligations.”
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“Mary Trump had already received a lucrative settlement in the estate proceedings, but she greedily sought to exploit the situation further by disclosing confidential information in violation of an agreement that she freely signed. She will not be permitted to benefit from her bad-faith conduct, and we eagerly anticipate seeking compensation for the harm caused to my client,” said Ms. Habba.
Ms. Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
She had argued her work was protected by the First Amendment, free speech rights.
The minor legal victory for Mr. Trump comes as he was indicted by the Justice Department on 37 counts stemming from his keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The indictment is the first of a former president, and leading Republican presidential candidate, by his political opponent’s Justice Department.
Mr. Trump has also been indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged hush money he paid to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to him taking office in 2017.
A grand jury in Georgia is also weighing indicting the former president for alleged election interference.
Ms. Trump has teamed up with E. Jean Carrol, who won a defamation lawsuit against the former president over claims he sexually abused her decades ago in a department store, to write a romance novel titled “The Italian Lesson.”
According to The New York Times, there will be no mention of Mr. Trump in the novel.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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