Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent the public from seeing ANY of his tax returns. You can be sure he blew a gasket when s few years of returns became part of the court record in a case his niece Mary and other family members had filed against him years suddenly appeared in the news. Naturally he sued. Mary Trump counter-sued. Most of it all got dismissed by the courts over time but part of Trump’s claim against his niece remained. Well, it’s all over.
As this article from Reuters explains on Tuesday of this week a filing was made in court that the two sides had reached a settlement agreement. Alas there are no details on what was agreed to. He loves working non-disclosure to settlements. To be fair the practice is hardly unique to Trump. NDAs are actually quite common and so are penalties being imposed on those who violate them. In rare instances a party to one can reveal protected information. For example if compelled by a court in a different legal proceeding. Or, even more rarely if the terms are determined by a judge/court to be unreasonable.
My main fear it that Trump managed to get some language included that would at least partially muzzle his outspoken niece. I wonder if she and her lawyers set a legal trap on this? Well, that’s another discussion for another time. For now there’s this:
U.S. President Donald Trump has settled his lawsuit accusing his niece Mary Trump of improperly leaking information to the New York Times (NYT.N), opens new tab for its Pulitzer Prize-winning 2018 probe into his finances and his alleged effort to avoid taxes.
Both sides announced a settlement in a letter filed on Tuesday with a New York state court in Manhattan, and expect to seek a formal dismissal in the coming weeks.
As I’ve said no terms were disclosed and requests for comment from both Mary Trump and Trump himself have gone unanswered. Team Trump did issue a ‘talk to the lawyers statement but that’s it. Fortunately Reuters does a bit of reporting on the history of the case which includes what I find to be an interesting tidbit:
Mary Trump, a psychologist, identified herself as a Times source in her 2020 tell-all best seller, opens new tab, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”
In May 2024, a state appeals court found a “substantial” legal basis for Donald Trump’s confidentiality claim, but said he might deserve only “nominal damages” rather than the $1oo MILLION HE Sought.
Lawyers for Mary Trump argued that the lawsuit violated a New York state law barring frivolous cases designed to silence critics’ free speech.
A judge overseeing the case dismissed Donald Trump’s related claims against the Times and the reporters in 2023, and later ordered him to pay $392,639 of their legal fees.
Take particular note of that last part. I sure as hell hope Mary Trump got a lot, if not all her own legal fees paid! She’s well-off financially compared to most of us but she’s hardly rich. Fighting her uncle in court was financially draining for her and given how instead of his typical lawyers he now has the entire DOJ as his personal law firm I can see why she’d want to put this behind her. Perhaps even agree to refrain from comments about Trumpty’s taxes even. That’s where it’s possible Trump might have shot himself in the foot with an NDA. Demanding she agree to never again criticize her P.O.S uncle would potentially render the NDA invalid. The lawyers here on PZ can speak to that better than I can.
Trump of course is major pissed to have not publicly gotten Mary Trump bankrupted and being able to crow about how much money he got out of her. Assuming as I’ve suggested she had to pay HIM something instead of the other way around. Worse from Trump’s point of view is this matter is OVER:
No terms were disclosed. A dismissal would be with prejudice, meaning the U.S. president could not sue again.
It might not be a ‘YUGE’ loss for Trump but we should revel in whatever losses he is forced to endure. Given his losing on much larger matters (Iran anyone?) this is just the kind of thing, because it’s truly a family dispute making it quite personal this is the loss this week that might wind up bugging him most of all.
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
