Trump settles $100M lawsuit against niece Mary over leaked tax records
WASHINGTON, DC: Donald Trump has settled a $100 million lawsuit against his niece, Mary Trump, over accusations that she handed over confidential records to The New York Times reporters for an investigation into his finances.
The 80-year-old president sued his estranged niece, along with three Times reporters, Susanne Craig, David Barstow, and Russell Buettner, in September 2021, for engaging in what the suit calls an “insidious plot” and an “extensive crusade” to obtain Trump’s taxes.
Trump alleged that the reporters had “convinced” his niece, despite a confidentiality agreement she signed in 2001, to secretly remove records from her attorney's office and provide them to The Times.
The 2018 report, at the center of the lawsuit, found that Trump gained at least $413 million from his father's real estate empire, adjusted for inflation, through a series of financial arrangements the report described as “dubious tax schemes.”
The trio of journalists won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting for the 18-month investigation into the Trump family’s tax history.
Trump's lawsuit against niece Mary expected to be dismissed with prejudice
The president is now dropping the case against his niece, with both sides saying in a joint letter to the court that they have reached a settlement.
“The parties are pleased to report that they have reached a settlement and anticipate being able to stipulate to the dismissal of this action with prejudice in the ensuing weeks, following completion of certain conditions precedent,” reads the letter filed on Tuesday, June 16.
Details regarding the terms of the settlement were not made public, and a formal dismissal is expected in the coming weeks.
The dismissal would be with prejudice, meaning the president could not sue again in the future.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawsuit against The Times and its reporters was dismissed in 2023, with a judge ordering him to cover nearly $400,000 in legal fees incurred by the defendants.
Mary mocks uncle Trump’s Reflecting Pool project
Just days after reaching a settlement in the lawsuit, Mary returned to familiar territory, mocking her uncle Donald over the controversy around his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool project.
In the video, she used the controversy surrounding the pool to push back against claims that its condition had improved following the recent renovation.
“It appears that the governing principle of the Trump regime is don’t believe your own lying eyes, you idiots,” she said, contrasting official assurances about the pool with images of green water and ongoing cleanup efforts
She also took aim at the project's price tag, noting that the roughly $14 million renovation was awarded through a no-bid contract.
“No other president would… spend $14 million of taxpayer dollars to fix something that wasn’t broken just to enrich one of his cronies,” the POTUS' niece said.
