In her last plea to a judge in New York, Mary Trump is requesting that he compel her uncle, President Donald Trump, to produce records pertaining to the estate’s worth of the late Fred Trump Sr., which she claims are essential to her defense in a protracted legal dispute.
Mary Trump and her lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, said in a filing on Friday that Justice Robert R. Reed of the New York Supreme Court had improperly barred the estate assessment records from discovery. According to them, those documents would demonstrate that she was duped into signing a 2001 settlement deal with the Trump family, making the confidentiality clause—which is at the center of President Trump’s lawsuit—unlawful.
According to Boutrous, these documents are essential to the live fraud defense in this instance. Mary Trump was purposefully deceived about the worth of the estate in order to get her to sign the settlement. She is worthy of the chance to make that argument.
The defense contends that denying her access to these files not only undermines her case but also makes it more difficult for her to get pertinent documents from outside sources.
Mary Trump’s assistance in publishing a Pulitzer Prize-winning study into President Trump’s finances is the reason behind the current lawsuit. Mary Trump refutes Trump’s claims that she plotted to get and publish his private tax information with journalists Susanne Craig, David Barstow, and Russell Buettner.
Justice Reed dismissed Mary Trump’s counterclaims and denied her attempts to broaden discovery earlier this year, ruling that she had explicitly relinquished all claims, including fraud, when she signed the 2001 family settlement.
Michael Madaio, the lawyer representing President Trump, has repeatedly requested the court to reject Mary Trump’s discovery attempts, calling them a fishing expedition and claiming the court has already considered her concerns. He believes the judge exercised good judgment.
However, Mary Trump’s legal team contends that this is about enabling her to defend herself against a lawsuit filed by her uncle, not about re-litigating past accusations.
The new complaint claims that the plaintiff’s estoppel arguments are without merit. Previous decisions dealt with Mary Trump’s capacity to file a fraud lawsuit rather than her ability to use fraud as a defense.
It’s unclear if the judge will change his mind. Mary Trump, however, is pleading with the court to allow her to demonstrate her claims that she was duped by her uncle and other relatives in a plot to conceal the actual value of the Trump organization.
