NEW YORK — Two New York judges have dismissed lawsuits against former President Donald Trump brought by a pair of familiar faces — his niece and his former fixer.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Robert Reed dismissed Mary Trump’s lawsuit against her uncle, which centered around allegations that the ex-president, his sister Maryanne Trump Barry and brother Robert Trump siphoned money from Mary Trump’s multimillion-dollar inheritance after her father, Fred Trump, Jr., died in 1981.
Reed’s Monday decision found the terms of a 2001 settlement with Mary Trump’s uncles and aunt barred her from bringing the lawsuit.
Her lawyer Roberta Kaplan described the ruling as “very disappointing.”
“Especially since it took more than two years for us to get here. In our view, the court overlooked applicable case law and the well-pleaded allegations in Mary Trump’s complaint,” said Kaplan.
“Given the age of the defendants, not to mention the fact that one of them intends to announce this evening that he is running once again for president, we intend to seek an expedited appeal to the appellate division.”
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said it was “encouraging to see one frivolous suit after another be tossed.”
“I am happy the Trump family can put this ridiculous case to rest,” said Habba.
Over in federal court, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman ruled that Michael Cohen’s lawsuit against Trump and former Attorney General Bill Barr could not proceed.
Cohen’s lawsuit accused Trump, his ex-AG and the Justice Department of conspiring to throw him back in prison when he refused to sign a home confinement agreement requiring him not to publish his tell-all book “Disloyal: A Memoir” about Trump for the duration of his sentence.
In his decision to toss the suit, Liman said he was bound by Supreme Court precedent “squarely” foreclosing Cohen’s retaliation claim. He nevertheless noted the case demonstrated “profound violence” to Cohen’s constitutional rights by the executive branch.
“(N)othing short of the use of executive power to lock up the president’s political enemies for speaking critically of him,” the judge wrote.
Cohen’s lawyer Andrew Laufner said he was exploring all options and a possible appeal.
In a statement to the Daily News, Trump’s former personal attorney said he had expected the government “would do everything in its power” to quash his case.
“At every turn, I have been silenced or derailed in my efforts to expose the unethical and unconstitutional tactics used against me by the previous administration,” Cohen said. “Despite all this, I will not be deterred in continuing my journey of speaking truth to power.”
Habba described Cohen’s lawsuit as “legally deficient and, more importantly, based upon inflammatory allegations that are simply not true.”
“President Donald J. Trump will continue to fight for the truth and against innumerable falsehoods being perpetrated by his enemies,” she said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Southern District of New York, which represents prosecutors named as defendants in Cohen’s case, declined to comment.
