7/1/20: Another Update. A New York appellate judge has lifted the restraining order against Simon & Schuster.
6/30/20:
A New York judge has stopped the publication of Mary L. Trump’s tell-all book about Donald Trump at least temporarily (See TRO, PDF). On July 10, the parties will argue about whether the court should extend the injunction.
As I discussed in the post below, Mary Trump signed a nondisclosure agreement in a settlement involving several of her family members, including Donald Trump. The question here is whether contract principles or free speech principles will prevail. On the one hand, Mary Trump gave away her right to speak about her family in exchange for the settlement (presumably knowingly and voluntarily). On the other, the nondisclosure provision may be unenforceable because her speech may be protected by the First Amendment. There is also Simon & Schuster’s right to publish information relevant to the public debate related to an upcoming election.
I believe the public should have a right to know what Mary Trump has to say, but we’ll see if the court agrees.
Robert S. Trump, Donald’s brother, is suing Mary L. Trump, his niece, and her publisher, Simon & Schuster, to halt publication of her tell-all book, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
This is Robert’s second attempt to stop the book. Last week, he sued Mary in the wrong court, which dismissed his case (Decision and Order of the Court, PDF). A day later, Robert filed the case in the Supreme Court of Dutchess County, New York, where he lives.
Robert Trump alleges that his niece violated a confidentiality provision she signed in 2001 to settle a legal dispute over her grandfather’s will. According to legal documents (Petition in first attempt, PDF), the agreement states:
Mary L. Trump (and others) “shall not disclose any of the terms of this Agreement and Stipulation, and in addition shall not directly…
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The Misfortune Of Knowing 
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