Bad news for President Trump and his younger brother, Robert Trump, who have tried to block an unappealing book from the President’s niece, Mary Trump, that Simon & Schuster will be published in July.
On Wednesday night, the New York appeals court revoked a temporary restraining order against Simon & Schuster, a decision that allowed publishers to move forward by printing copies of books and sending them to retailers. The court left a temporary restraining order for Mary Trump until the hearing on July 10.
Make no mistake: This is a blow to Robert Trump’s efforts to block the book. Simon & Schuster has said that he has printed 75,000 copies of the book and sent it to the bookseller. At the July 10 hearing, the publisher will further prepare for publishing the book on the release date scheduled for July 28. In other words, the horse will get closer to getting out of the warehouse.
The appellate court also noted that “while the parties are free to enter into a confidentiality agreement, the court should not be required to specifically enforce it” and said that such an agreement “can be enforced alternatively through wasteful damage to money.” Suggestions that monetary compensation might be a way to resolve legal disputes, rather than orders, also don’t seem to bode well for the Robert Trump case …
“We grateful”
In a statement, Simon & Schuster celebrated the court’s decision. “We are grateful for the decision of the Court of Appeals to cancel the Temporary Detention Order issued by the lower court against Simon & Schuster,” the company said in a statement. The publisher said that it supported Mary Trump “the right to tell her story.” Simon & Schuster added, “As we know, there is a strong precedent for prior detention orders and pre-publication, and we remain confident that the initial order will be rejected.”
Lawyer Mary Trump will file a short Thursday
Ted Boutrous, a famous First Amendment lawyer representing Mary Trump, who also represented CNN in the past, welcomed the court’s decision as “good news.” Boutrous added, “We look forward to our brief submission tomorrow at the trial court explaining why the same outcome is needed for Ms. Trump, based on the First Amendment and basic contract law.”
There are no comments from Harder
Meanwhile, there is silence from the side of Robert Trump’s dispute. I sent an email to Charles Harder, the lawyer representing him, and did not hear a reply. Sometimes, silence can tell …
