Trump v. Trump
| Docket Number | Index No. 453299/2021 |
| Decision Date | 09 June 2023 |
| Citation | 2023 NY Slip Op 23180 |
| Parties | Donald J. Trump, Plaintiff, v. Mary L. Trump, The New York Times Company D/B/A The New York Times, Susanne Craig, David Barstow, Russell Buettner, John Does 1 Through 10, and ABC Corporations 1 Through 10, Defendant. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
Attorneys for the Plaintiff Donald J Trump: Michael T Madaio, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP Alina Habba, Habba Madaio & Associates LLP
Attorneys for the Defendant Mary L Trump: Anne Marie Champion, Gibson, Dun & Crutcher Michael Nadler, Gibson Dun & Crutcher Theodore Joseph Boutrous, Gibson, Dun & Crutcher
The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 002) 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 were read on this motion to/for DISMISS.
In this lawsuit, Donald J. Trump ("plaintiff"), a former president of the United States, asserts various claims against his niece, Mary L. Trump ("Mary Trump"), The New York Times Company d/b/a The New York Times ("The Times"), the individually named journalists Susanna Craig ("Craig"), David Barstow ("Barstow") and Russell Buettner ("Buettner"), along with unnamed John Does and unnamed ABC Corporations (collectively "defendants"), for their actions related to the publishing of The Times' 2018 article," Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches from His Father." Additionally, plaintiff seeks to recover against Mary Trump for the publication of her book," Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man." Mary Trump, the complaint alleges, caused her book to be published in open defiance of confidentiality obligations she owed to plaintiff.
In motion sequence number 002, Mary Trump moves, pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(1), (a)(7), and (g), to dismiss each of the claims asserted against her and for an order, based on New York's amended anti-SLAPP law, directing plaintiff to pay the attorneys' fees and costs incurred defending against plaintiff's claims.
Shortly after the death of Frederick C. Trump-plaintiff's father and Mary Trump's grandfather-disputes arose between various members of the Trump family regarding the estate of Frederick C. Trump and that of his wife, Mary Anne Trump (NYSCEF Doc. No. 1, complaint at 15-19). Mary Trump, joined by her brother Fred Trump III (individually and on behalf of his son, William Trump), his wife, and their mother (collectively, the "objectants"), filed objections to the probate of both estates against co-executors plaintiff, Robert Trump (plaintiff's brother), and Maryanne Trump Barry (plaintiff's sister) (collectively the "proponents") (id. at 17). The objectants also commenced litigation seeking to reinstate certain health insurance coverage that the proponents cut off in alleged retaliation for their objections to the probate proceedings (id. at 18).
The parties to the estate proceedings engaged in voluminous discovery, which, among other things, produced certain tax and financial records concerning plaintiff. Then, in April of 2001, the parties executed a settlement agreement to "fully, finally, and globally" resolve the filed actions and proceedings (id. at 23; see also NYSCEF Doc. No. 26, Ex. 9, the settlement agreement). The settlement agreement's stated purpose was to effect a "compromise[] and settle[ment], on a 'global basis' in order to resolve all of [the parties'] differences pertaining to two (2) probate proceedings; [an] insurance case; partnership and corporate interests; as well as their interests in two (2) inter vivos trusts" (the settlement agreement at 5). Under the agreement, the proponents also acquired Mary Trump's interests in the family business.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the settlement agreement contain reciprocal confidentiality provisions. Paragraph 2 specifically provides that without the express consent of all three proponents-including plaintiff-objectants:
"shall not disclose any of the terms of [the Settlement Agreement], and in addition shall not directly or indirectly publish or cause to be published, any diary, memoir, letter story, photograph, interview, article, essay, account, or description or depiction of any kind whatsoever, whether fictionalized or not, concerning their litigation or relationship with the 'Proponents/Defendants' or their litigation involving the Estate of FRED C. TRUMP, and the Estate of MARY ANNE TRUMP, or assist or provide information to others in connection therewith" (id. at 27).
Paragraph 3, on the other hand, binds plaintiff and the other proponents to extend the same promises concerning confidentiality to the objectants, including Mary Trump (settlement agreement, paragraph 3). Defendants contend that while the confidentiality provisions state that the agreement itself is confidential and that the parties may not discuss their relationship in the context of the estate disputes, the provisions do not extend confidentiality to documents exchanged during discovery in the estate proceedings.
Many years after the execution of the settlement agreement, as the public's interest in plaintiff's affairs began to grow-eventually culminating with his entry into national politics-The Times began scrutinizing some of plaintiff's public statements regarding his personal finances and entrepreneurial endeavors (NYSCEF Doc. No. 46 at 4). While running for President, plaintiff promised to disclose his tax returns (id.). [1] His failure to do so-even after his election-fueled speculation that the tax returns would contradict his public statements about his finances (id.). Then, in 2016, The Times obtained portions of plaintiff's tax returns and published an article revealing that he may have avoided taxes for nearly two decades (complaint at 34-36). The publication of that article further sparked public debate, and since then, plaintiff's taxes have become a frequent subject of media attention (id.).
At The Times, Craig, Barstow, and Buettner were tasked with covering plaintiff's financial affairs (id. at 7-9). As part of their ongoing efforts to report on the topic, in 2017, Craig approached Mary Trump at her home to seek information for "a very important story about [the Trump] family finances" (id. at 39). Mary Trump initially declined to speak with Craig (id. at 40), but Craig continued reaching out to Mary Trump, assuring her that her cooperation could help "rewrite the history of the President of the United States" (id. at 43).
Sometime after the first visit from Craig, Mary Trump changed her mind and decided to call Craig. She and Craig discussed documents from the estate disputes that had remained in Mary Trump's client file at the offices of her attorneys, the Farrell Fritz law firm. [2] Mary Trump initially considered the possibility that she might have to "smuggle" these documents out of her attorney's office, but instead she received permission from her attorneys to take an extra copy from them (id. at 45, 48). Once receiving those documents from her attorneys, Mary Trump shared them with The Times (id. at 49). Mary Trump never received authorization from any of the proponents to share the documents with The Times (id. at 50).
Plaintiff contends that Mary Trump's actions constitute a blatant breach of paragraph 2 of the settlement agreement-which, from his reading, had plainly mandated confidentiality with respect to the documents exchanged in discovery in the estate proceedings. Plaintiff also contends that The Times was aware that Mary Trump's actions would constitute a violation of the settlement agreement. In fact, the complaint alleges, Craig made such acknowledgments publicly (id. at 58). According to plaintiff, Mary Trump would not have breached the applicable confidentiality provision were it not for The Times' persistent efforts (id. at 59). Therefore, plaintiff contends, The Times tortiously interfered with the contract between Mary Trump and plaintiff, without justification, to plaintiff's detriment.
On October 2, 2018, The Times published an article, credited to Barstow, Craig, and Buettner, entitled" Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches from His Father" (the "2018 article") (id. at 67). The article's subject matter was described immediately below the headline: "The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today's dollars from his father's real estate empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s" (NYSCEF Doc. No. 45, Ex. C, at 2). The 13,000-word article explained in detail the various methods that plaintiff and his parents allegedly used to "dodge taxes," including "set[ting] up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts"; "tak[ing] improper tax deductions worth millions more"; and "formulat[ing] a strategy to undervalue his parents' real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns" (complaint at 68-70). The stock price of The Times rose 7.4% during the week of the publication of the article (id. at 73).
About two years later, Mary Trump decided to write a book of her own about her family, focusing on, among other things, her relationship with plaintiff (id. at 76). The book entitled" Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" (the "book"), initially was scheduled to release during the summer of 2021 (id. at 77). The publisher, Simon & Schuster, moved the release date to July 14, 2020, given the "high demand and extraordinary interest in the work" (id.). On June 26, 2020, plaintiff's brother, Robert, filed suit in the Supreme Court of Dutchess County...
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