Former President Donald Trump received a small victory in a New York appeals court Thursday as he awaits the verdict in his Manhattan criminal trial.
The appeals court cleared the way for Trump to sue his niece, Mary Trump, for providing information to the New York Times for its 2018 article on the former president’s taxes.
Lawyers for Mary Trump had argued that Trump’s lawsuit was not permitted under New York laws barring frivolous lawsuits that are intended to silence opponents. They further argued that Trump cannot claim to have been harmed by the release of accurate information.
In a June 2023 ruling, New York judge Robert Reed sided against Mary, who appealed the decision. The five-judge panel upheld the previous ruling on Thursday, saying Trump has standing to sue his niece for breaching confidentiality agreements made in a 2001 settlement over the estate of Fred Trump Sr., the former president’s father.
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The court’s ruling has no impact on whether Trump’s lawsuit will be successful. His original lawsuit called for his niece to hand over $100 million in damages. The court says he may still be successful in securing funds.
“At a minimum, nominal damages may still be available on the breach of contract claim even in the absence of actual damages,” the court wrote.
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The Times’ 2018 article, which received a Pulitzer Prize, shined a light on the former president’s finances, notably revealing substantial funds he had received from his father.
Mary Trump revealed herself as one of the sources for the story in a memoir, a book Trump derided as “stupid” and “vicious.”
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The win for Trump comes as the jury deliberates in his New York criminal trial, which has him charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. The trial has lasted five weeks, and there is no timeline for how long the jury will deliberate.
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Trump faces three additional indictments once the New York case concludes. He faces election charges in Washington, D.C., and Georgia, as well as classified documents charges in Florida.
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