Judge orders Mary Trump to explain why her tell-all shouldn’t be

A Dutchess County, New York judge on Tuesday ordered attorneys for President Donald Trump’s niece to respond to a lawsuit filed by Robert Trump, the president’s brother, seeking to halt the publication of her forthcoming tell-all memoir.

Judge Hal Greenwald of the New York Supreme Court in also issued an order prohibiting Simon & Schuster from publishing the book before the case is decided and scheduled a hearing in the matter as soon as July 10. 

The book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” by Mary Trump, is scheduled for release July 28.

The book “shines a bright light on the dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric,” according to Simon & Schuster.

The order temporarily bars Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster from “publishing, printing or distributing any book or any portions thereof” that contain “descriptions or accounts of Mary L. Trump’s relationship with Robert S. Trump, Donald Trump, or Maryanne Trump Barry.”

Maryanne Trump Barry, the president’s eldest sister, retired as a federal appeals court judge last year. 

The publisher and an attorney for Mary Trump said they planned to appeal the order immediately. 

Robert Trump challenged the publication of the book on the grounds that a nondisclosure agreement reached in connection with litigation over his father’s will prohibits those involved from from publishing anything “concerning the litigation or their relationship with each other.” 

In a statement, Charles Harder, Robert Trump’s attorney, said his client was “very pleased” with the order. 

“We look forward to vigorously litigating this case, and will seek the maximum remedies available by law for the enormous damages caused by Mary Trump’s breach of contract and Simon & Schuster’s intentional interference with that contract,” Harder said. “Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end.”

Harder has represented President Trump in high-profile cases, including in litigation against the adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The president has said that his niece is subject to a nondisclosure agreement and is “not allowed” to publish the book. 

In a statement, Simon & Schuster said it was “disappointed” in the order. 

“We plan to immediately appeal this decision to the Appellate Division, and look forward to prevailing in this case based on well-established precedents regarding prior restraint,” the publisher said.

Theodore Boutrous Jr., an attorney for Mary Trump, said in a statement that the order “is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment.”

“We will immediately appeal. This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed…