Boutrous—who has previously battled the Trump White House on CNN’s behalf—had no comment beyond his own statement: “President Trump and his siblings are seeking to suppress a book that will discuss matters of utmost public importance. They are pursuing this unlawful prior restraint because they do not want the American people to know the truth. The courts will not tolerate this brazen effort to squelch speech in violation of the First Amendment.” A rep for Simon & Schuster told me on Tuesday: “The courts take a dim view of prior restraint, and this attempt to block publication will meet the same fate as those that have gone before.” (The Trump administration previously tried to block S&S from publishing White House memoirs by John Bolton and Manigault Newman.) Harder didn’t return an email.
Even if the Trumps fail, as is expected, to keep Too Much and Never Enough off shelves, that won’t necessarily spell the end of Mary Trump’s legal headaches. The family could still bring a civil action against her after publication. That war would be waged based on differing interpretations of what one can only assume is an absurdly draconian NDA. Even then, Mary could still have the upper hand.
“If they really wanna litigate with her on this, then she’s got grounds for really serious discovery, and that’s the same mistake he made with my lawsuit,” said Tim O’Brien, who famously prevailed in a $5 billion battle over the publication of his 2005 Trump biography. “He chose three pages about his wealth, and that opened him up to discovery on his bank records, tax records, and two days of depositions that remain a very embarrassing public record.”
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