Donald Trump and his siblings can't be sued by niece Mary Trump over inheritance money, judge rules

• A judge tossed Mary Trump's lawsuit against her uncle Donald Trump and two of his siblings.
• She alleged they swindled her out of rightful inheritance money.
• The ruling was based on a settlement she signed in 2001 barred her from suing.

A New York judge ruled against Mary Trump in a lawsuit she brought against her uncle, former President Donald Trump, alleging she was swindled out of millions of dollars in inheritance money.

Mary Trump's lawsuit, filed in September 2020, alleged the ex-president and his siblings Maryanne Trump Barry and Robert Trump (who died in August 2020) maneuvered to limit her rightful inheritance from the family business of family patriarch Fred C. Trump, who died in 1999.

In a Monday decision, the judge overseeing the case ruled that she was barred from suing due to the terms of a settlement she entered in 2001. The settlement granted her millions of dollars in cash in exchange for her interest in various Trump properties — though Mary Trump said the sum was based on her aunt and uncles' fraudulent misrepresentations of the property values.

Nonetheless, New York Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Reed ruled, Mary Trump could not overcome the strict language of the settlement agreement.

"Plaintiff's claims for fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty all fall within the broad scope of the releases," Reed wrote.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney representing Mary Trump, said she would appeal the case.

"Yesterday's decision is both incorrect and disappointing," Kaplan said in a statement. "Given the age of the defendants, not to mention the fact that one of them intends to announce today that he is running again for President, we intend to seek an expedited appeal."

The ruling is the second major legal victory this week ahead of former president Donald Trump's expected announcement Tuesday that he would seek the presidency a third time.

Also on Monday evening, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Michael Cohen brought against Trump and the Justice Department over his treatment in prison while he worked on a book critical of his former boss. 

Alina Habba, an attorney representing Trump in the case, described Cohen's lawsuit as based on falsehoods.

"The Court saw through Cohen's frivolous lawsuit, which was legally deficient and, more importantly, based upon inflammatory allegations that are simply not true," Habba said in a statement. President Donald J. Trump will continue to fight for the truth and against innumerable falsehoods being perpetrated by his enemies."

Neither Cohen nor his lawyer immediately provided a comment. 

Donald Trump has separately filed a lawsuit against Mary Trump and the New York Times, over the publication of his tax returns obtained through his niece, which remains pending.

A representative for the former president didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the litigation relating to Mary Trump.