Former President Donald Trump came out on top in his fight with estranged niece Mary Trump just before being convicted as a felon in another case on Thursday.
The former president sued his niece, The New York Times, and three columnists in 2021, following the publishing of Mary Trump’s tell-all memoir Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.
Dismissal of Lawsuit
The lawsuit was later partially dismissed, with the ex-president’s cases against the paper and the journalists being dropped a year ago.
Claims that Mary Trump had disregarded a 2001 non-disclosure agreement by distributing her book and providing information as a source for the New York Times providing details regarding the previous president’s taxes were not excused.
Appellate Favoring Trump
On Thursday afternoon, Manhattan’s Appellate Division decided that there was a “substantial” precedent for Donald Trump’s case against his niece to push ahead.
Trump legal counselor Alina Habba commended the ruling shortly after frame later in the accompanying post to X: “We look forward to resuming this suit to ensure she is held fully accountable for her blatant and egregious breach of contract.”
Small Victory
While the choice was only a minor windfall for the previous president on an otherwise catastrophic Thursday, the appeals court proposed that Trump could be only granted “nominal” damages against his niece assuming that he wins the case.
This would be a great departure from the initial figure he had sought of $100 million in compensation.
A Symbolic Win
The five-judge board wrote in a statement to Reuters that “at a minimum, nominal damages may still be available on the breach of contract claim even in the absence of actual damages.”
Mary Trump’s legal counselor Anne Champion told the news source that Trump is “confident she will be vindicated as the case proceeds.”
Legal Counsel’s Opinion
Champion added that “Mary has made valuable contributions to the public’s knowledge of the former president with her unique perspective as a family member.”
Mary Trump’s lawyer proceeded to highlight that the ex-president “can claim no injury for the publication of truthful information..”
Trump’s Brief Celebration
On Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump posted an article from Fox News about the Mary Trump decision to his Truth Social account.
This was shortly before he left for Manhattan’s criminal court, where a jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Taking the Outcome
Mary Trump didn’t provide comment regarding her court loss on Thursday although she did praise her uncle’s criminal conviction during an “Emergency Nerds” livestream following the decision.
She said in her appearance: “Donald J. Trump has been found guilty of 34 criminal charges in the very first of hopefully many more criminal trials this lifetime criminal will face… This is a long time coming.”
Mary Trump Weighs In
She went on to say, “This is a vindication for every single New York State citizen and every single American.”
Her celebrations continued saying: “I’m so happy… This is the best flipping Christmas morning I’ve ever had in my life… This scumbag finally got what’s coming to him.”
The Apprentice Controversy
Mary Trump had recently weighed in on allegations that her uncle had reportedly used the “n-word” while filming his TV show The Apprentice.
Her opinion on the likelihood of this having an impact was not optimistic as per her comment to Slate: “Does it matter anymore? Like, I think there is a time when it might have mattered… Maybe I was just young and naïve then.”
Appeals for a Pardon
In regards to his hush money convictions, a pardon from an unlikely place was heard from Democrat Representative Dean Phillips
His stance was that if Donald Trump is sentenced for these crimes he will cast himself as a martyr only shoring up his support and the fight should be saved for election charges, according to a post he wrote on X.
Increase in Donations
Following the announcement of the 34 felony counts, Donald Trump’s campaign announced a record surge in donations to the election campaign for the former president.
Trump’s campaign reported in a statement to Newsweek that they netted “$34.8 million – nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform.”
It was a historic day for Donald Trump, whether the conviction announcement will have a net positive or negative outcome on his campaign remains to be seen.
