The Trump family has secured a preliminary injunction against President Donald Trump‘s niece Mary Trump and her publisher Simon & Schuster which will temporarily prevent them from publishing her controversial tell-all memoir.
A judge in Dutchess County, New York ruled in favor of the wealthy Trump family on Tuesday afternoon. The book, Too Much and Never Enough, How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, was scheduled to be published July 28, 2020.
Dutchess County Court Judge Hal B. Greenwald ruled the defendants must refrain from “publishing, printing or distributing” any copies of the book prior to a hearing slated for July 10.
The order also prohibits the defendants from “directly or indirectly” reproducing “any portions” of the book “or assisting any other person or entity in such publication, printing, or distribution, or providing such descriptions or accounts to any other person” other than the attorneys currently involved in the case.
The publishers have already filed to appeal the decision.
“We are disappointed that the Court has granted this Temporary Restraining Order,” Simon & Schuster spokesperson Adam Rothberg said in a statement. “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.”
Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for the storied publishing giant, rubbished the decision as plainly unconstitutional and described the county court’s ruling as a short-lived setback.
“The trial court’s temporary restraining order is only temporary but it still is a prior restraint on core political speech that flatly violates the First Amendment,” he noted. “We will immediately appeal.”
Trump family attorney Charles Harder quickly took a victory lap by threatening continued legal action against Mary Trump and her publishers.
“Robert Trump is very pleased with the New York Supreme Court’s injunction against Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster,” he said in a statement obtained by Law&Crime. “The actions of Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster are truly reprehensible. 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. Short of corrective action to immediately cease their egregious conduct, we will pursue this case to the very end.”
Read the court’s full order below:
Robert Trump v Mary Trump TRO by Law&Crime on Scribd
This is a breaking news report.
[image via Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images]