Maryanne Trump Barry
Maryanne Trump Barry (April 5, 1937 – November 13, 2023) was an American attorney and United States federal judge. She became an assistant United States attorney in 1974 and was first appointed to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. In 1999, she was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Bill Clinton.
"Maryanne Trump" and "Maryanne Barry" redirect here. For people with similar names, see Mary Trump and Marion Barry (disambiguation).
Maryanne Trump Barry
April 5, 1937
New York City, U.S.
November 13, 2023 (aged 86)
New York City, U.S.
1
In January 2006, Barry testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the nomination of her colleague Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. She took senior status in June 2011, and announced her retirement from the bench in February 2019 after an investigation was launched into allegations that she had committed judicial misconduct by participating in fraudulent tax and financial transactions.
Barry was the elder sister of former president Donald Trump.
Early life and education[edit]
Barry was born Maryanne Trump in the Queens borough of New York City on April 5, 1937, the first child of real estate developer Fred Trump and his wife Mary Anne MacLeod Trump.[1] She was the eldest sister of Donald Trump.[2][3] She attended Kew-Forest School.[4]: 243 She graduated cum laude with a BA from Mount Holyoke College in 1958,[5][6][4]: 244 and an MA in public law and government from Columbia University in 1962.[5][7] She later attended law school, earning her JD from Hofstra University School of Law in 1974.[5]
Career[edit]
U.S. attorney's office[edit]
After being a homemaker for 13 years, Barry became an assistant United States attorney in 1974, one of only two women out of 62 lawyers in the office of the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey.[8] She was in the civil division from 1974 to 1975 and in the appeals division from 1976 to 1982, serving as deputy chief of that division from 1976 to 1977 and chief of the division from 1977 to 1982. She served as Executive Assistant United States Attorney from 1981 to 1982. She was First Assistant United States Attorney from 1981 to 1983.[5]
Allegations of tax evasion[edit]
In October 2018, The New York Times published an investigative report asserting that Barry, along with her father and siblings, had engaged in fraudulent and illegal activity to limit estate tax and gift tax liability stemming from Fred Trump's real estate enterprises.[25] Investigative journalist Susanne Craig discovered a filing Barry had made to the U.S. Senate as part of her federal judiciary confirmation in 1983, in which she had reported a $1 million contribution from All County Building Supply & Maintenance.[26] The Times reported that All County Building Supply & Maintenance was a "sham company" formed in 1992[26] and owned by Barry, Donald Trump, their siblings and a cousin.
All County Building Supply & Maintenance reportedly paid for work performed at Fred Trump's apartment buildings; those buildings then reimbursed the company but fraudulently added extra money to those reimbursements. Tax experts reportedly indicated that because All County "performed no real work, the transfer of money through the corporation was essentially a gift that evaded the 55 percent tax in place at the time".[27] Its address was the Manhasset, New York, residence of John Walter, Fred Trump's nephew.[26][Notes 1] In a follow-up article, The New York Times reported that the money illicitly earned by All County was split by the Trump siblings.[27]
In October 2018, as a result of the publication of this investigation, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance began a review of the fraud allegations against Barry and her siblings.[25][28][23]
On February 1, 2019, four legal professionals who had filed complaints against Judge Barry in October 2018 stemming from the allegations made in The New York Times were notified by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that an investigation into judicial misconduct by Barry had been launched, regarding her alleged participation in fraudulent tax and financial transactions.[29] Ten days later, Barry, a senior inactive judge, announced her retirement from the bench, effectively ending the investigation.[23]
Private criticism of Donald Trump[edit]
Barry made few public statements about her younger brother Donald Trump during his presidency.[8] In August 2020, their niece Mary L. Trump revealed that she had surreptitiously audio-recorded 15 hours of discussions with Barry in 2018 and 2019. In those recorded discussions, Barry sharply criticized her brother.[8] Mary publicly released several transcripts and audio excerpts of the conversations, including content that did not previously appear in her 2020 book Too Much and Never Enough.[8]
In the recordings, Barry said of her brother, "All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None. His goddamned tweeting and lying... oh my god. I'm talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit. [...] It's the phoniness of it all. It's the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel."[8] She added that he did not read books and had someone take the college entrance exam in his place.[8] In the recordings, Barry also criticized her brother's family separation policy and the bankruptcies of his businesses, adding that "you can't trust him".[8][30][31]
Personal life, illness and death[edit]
Barry's first husband was David Desmond; the couple divorced in 1980.[32] In 1982, she married New Jersey lawyer John Joseph Barry.[1][7] They were married for 18 years before he died on April 9, 2000.[33] She had one son from her first marriage, David William Desmond, who became a psychologist.[32][34]
Barry converted to Catholicism as an adult and frequently attended Mass.[35] In 2016, she gave $4 million to the Catholic Fairfield University to fund scholarships and endow the university's Center for Ignatian Spirituality.[36][37]
In 2023, Barry was reported to be under hospice care for cancer.[38] On November 13, 2023, she died at her home on Manhattan's Upper East Side, at the age of 86.[39]
Awards[edit]
In 2004, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor presented Barry with an award named for O'Connor that the Seton Hall University School of Law gives to women who excel in law and public service. At the presentation ceremony, Barry said, "I say to the women out there, remember how difficult it was for women like Justice O'Connor starting out", adding, "Even though she graduated with top grades, she had to take a job as a legal secretary. Remember how far we have come".[1]