In the charges against his niece, Trump argued that she had broken the terms of a confidentiality agreement that was part of a settlement tied to the will of Fred C. Trump, the former president’s father, who died in 1999.
Mrs. Trump, who revealed her role as a source for the Times in a 2020 memoir, argues that the First Amendment protected her actions.
In a three-page opinion Thursday, the state appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling that there was a “substantial legal basis” for Trump’s breach of contract. The opinion also notes several questions that will need to be resolved for Trump to prevail, including exactly how long the confidentiality clause Trump signed will last and whether the former president can show he suffered harm as a result of the disclosures.
The case now returns to the New York State Supreme Court, the state’s lowest court.
A lawyer for Trump, Alina Habba, said the former president would continue his lawsuit to ensure that Mrs. Trump “is held fully accountable for her clear and egregious breach of contract.”
A lawyer for Mrs Trump, Anne Champion, said she was “disappointed” by the ruling. “The First Amendment gives all of us the right to criticize candidates for office, and Mary has made a valuable contribution to public understanding of the former president with her unique perspective of her as a member of the family,” she said in a statement. Note. “She should not be silenced and we are confident that she will be vindicated as the case proceeds.”
