Donald Trump accuses niece Mary Trump, New York Times reporters of disclosing tax documents

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Trump’s lawsuit – which seeks “damages of an amount to be determined in litigation, but believed to be at least One Hundred Million Dollars” – alleges that Mary Trump’s disclosure of tax information to the Times reached an illegal violation. in the contract, among other claims, because the disclosure allegedly violated a 2001 settlement agreement among the Trump family.

The former president’s lawsuit also accused Times reporters of “persuasively interfering” with the settlement agreement, among other claims, how they “relentlessly sought out Mary Trump and deliberately take his breach of the Settlement Agreement. ” The Times ’Susanne Craig, David Barstow and Russ Buettner were named as defendants.

“The actions of Mary Trump and The Times Defendant were motivated, somehow, by their actual malice towards Plaintiff,” the lawsuit alleges. It claims that Times journalists “unfairly reap significant personal, professional and / or business related (s), including, but not limited to, earning money, fame, recognition, prominence, excessive market appreciation , increased income, and / or career advancement. “

The lawsuit, filed in Duchess County, was first reported by The Daily Beast.

In a statement, Mary Trump said: “I think he’s going to lose, and he’s going to throw anything at the wall that he can. It’s desperate. The walls are closing and he’s throwing something at the wall that he thinks will stay. Like as always happens to Donald, he will try and change the subject. “

In a statement, the Times spokesman said that “Donald Trump’s tax coverage has helped inform citizens through thorough reporting on a topic of excessive public interest. This lawsuit is a attempt to silence independent news organizations and we plan to vigorously defend against it. “

The three reporters won a Pulitzer Prize for their 18-month investigation into Trump’s finances that “erased his claims to his own wealth and revealed a business empire filled with tax dodges,” according to journalism award website.

At the time, Donald Trump dismissed the report as a “very old, boring and often said hit piece,” though he didn’t directly dispute any of its findings. Trump’s attorney Charles Harder said at the time that “The allegations of fraud and tax evasion in the New York Times are 100 percent false, and highly defamatory,” according to the paper.

Mary Trump – the daughter of the late older brother of the former president, Fred Trump Jr. – spoke out loudly against his uncle, including writing a book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the Most Dangerous Man in the World,” in 2020 that painted an unsatisfactory picture of the family Trump and their financial dealings.

Mary Trump also revealed in what she said in all the books that she was a source for the Times story about Donald Trump’s tax return.

Donald Trump’s younger brother, Robert Trump, spearheaded the effort to try and block the release of their niece’s book by claiming it would violate the terms of the confidential agreement the family reached at the death trial. of the patriarchal family Fred Trump.

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

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