Mary Trump's family tell-all book publication date moved up to July 14, two weeks early

The publisher of a book on President Donald Trump and his family announced Monday they are moving up the publication date to July 14 due to "high demand and extraordinary interest" in the tell-all tome by Mary Trump.

The president's niece, embroiled in a legal battle over the book with her uncles, including the president's brother Robert Trump, issued an email statement to USA TODAY through her spokesman, Chris Bastardi.

“The act by a sitting president to muzzle a private citizen is just the latest in a series of disturbing behaviors which have already destabilized a fractured nation in the face of a global pandemic," the statement said. "If Mary cannot comment, one can only help but wonder: what is Donald Trump so afraid of?”

The book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man," originally was scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster on July 28.

Mary Trump's book closer to publication as legal team files affidavit, court sides with publisher

A New York appellate court last week ruled the publication could go ahead over the Trump brothers' attempts to block it.

But a temporary restraining order remains on Mary herself. A lower court judge in New York is due to consider whether to continue or drop that order later this week.

Mary, 55, a psychologist, is the daughter of Trump's elder brother, the late Fred Trump Jr.  

Her book is described by the publisher as "a revelatory, authoritative portrait of Donald J. Trump and the toxic family that made him." She shines a light on the "dark history of their family in order to explain how her uncle became the man who now threatens the world’s health, economic security, and social fabric," according to the publisher's description.

Bastardi said Mary will have no further comment at this time. But her statement suggests that the legal furor surrounding her book is further evidence of the problematic behavior in her family she alleges and seeks to illuminate in her book, which left the Trump brothers outraged.

In a lawsuit he filed in New York at the end of June, Robert argued that Mary had no right to speak or write about her family. His lawyers said she signed a family estate settlement almost 20 years ago that included a confidentiality clause explicitly saying members of the family would not “publish any account concerning the litigation or their relationship,” unless they all agreed.

Mary's lawyers and lawyers for Simon & Schuster argued that blocking the book amounted to unconstitutional prior restraint, a violation of the First Amendment rights of Mary Trump and the publisher.

A series of conflicting court rulings ensued. As it stands now, Simon & Schuster have the right to publish whenever it wants. It is not yet clear whether Mary Trump has the right to help publicly promote her book, at least until a judge in Poughkeepsie rules July 10 or shortly after.

However, other legal experts say that even if Mary has contractual obligations to stay silent, courts typically would call for her to pay damages later, not be restrained from speaking or writing or publishing a book.  

"When there is a breach of contract, that does not stop speech," says Katie Townsend, legal director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. "There's a strong preferences in the law for post-publication remedies rather than prior restraint." 

Since the book's existence was revealed last month, Mary Trump has said little in public until now. In a four-page affidavit she filed with the New York court late Thursday, she declared she has not received any money from the family estate settlement since April 2001.

She also claimed that she agreed to the settlement after relying on asset valuations of her grandfather's estate that she now believes were inaccurate based on New York Times reporting, for which she was a key source. Moreover, her uncles and aunt have been talking in public about the family for years without seeking her permission.

"I never believed that the Settlement Agreement resolving discrete financial disputes could possibly restrict me from telling the story of my life or publishing a book discussing anything contained in the Book," she said. "Moreover, my uncle, the President, has spoken out about our family and the will dispute on numerous occasions."

So far, the Trump book case involves more than a dozen lawyers, few of whom have said anything publicly except for Ted Boutrous, Mary Trump's lawyer. On CNN Thursday, he said the settlement agreement silencing Mary is null and void because it was the product of fraud.

“President Trump and his family didn’t disclose the truth about the assets that were involved in the agreement," he said. “The Supreme Court has never upheld one in the context of a speech that involves public concern. And this is speech in a book that is of utmost public concern.”

Robert Trump's lawyer, Charles Harder, best known for representing celebrities in battles with the media, including first lady Melania Trump, has not responded to messages from USA TODAY. 

Simon & Schuster has garnered attention for publishing other Trump-related books recently, including an unauthorized biography about the first lady, “The Art of Her Deal,” by Washington Post reporter Mary Jordan, and the book by the president's one-time national security adviser John Bolton. "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," which landed the top spot on USA TODAY's Best-Selling books list last week. 

Related:Judge temporarily blocks publication of Donald Trump's niece's tell-all book