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Hal Greenwald, a judge for the 9th Judicial District Supreme Court in the Hudson Valley, lifted a temporary restraining order on President Donald Trump’s niece, much to the chagrin of her father, Robert.
In a lawsuit last month, citing a confidentiality agreement Mary signed in 2011, Robert sought an injunction to prevent promotion of "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man.”
“Why would a 2001 settlement of two estate matters and a local Supreme Court case contain a clause prohibiting the parties to these actions to ever speak again about their relationships?” Greenwald, whose office is in Dutchess County, wrote in his settlement released on the eve of the book’s release on Tuesday, July 14.
“The Trumps were local in 2001,” he noted. “The leader of the Trump family in 2020 is global.”
Robert, the president’s brother, had targeted Mary and her publisher, Simon & Schuster. The book has been at the top of the Amazon bestseller list since it was posted.
In a statement, Simon & Schuster said it was "delighted" by the court's decision.
"The unfettered right to publish is a sacred American freedom and a founding principle of our republic, and we applaud the Court for affirming well-established precedents against prior restraint and pre-publication injunctions.”
The book, which has garnered national attention, reportedly includes family secrets and a look behind the scenes of the Trump family.
Mary Trump, a Long Island resident who became a clinical psychologist, traces the family’s history back to the president’s father, Fred Trump, who was reportedly neglectful.
Ted Boutrous, Mary Trump’s attorney, celebrated the ruling as a victory for First Amendment rights in a statement released on Monday night.
“The court got it right in rejecting the Trump family’s effort to squelch Mary Trump’s core political speech on important issues of public concern,” Boutrous stated.
“The First Amendment forbids prior restraints because they are intolerable infringements on the right to participate in democracy. Tomorrow, the American public will be able to read Mary’s important words for themselves.”
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