Maryanne Trump Barry (born April 5, 1937) is an American attorney and a retired

United States federal judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

. 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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

(Philadelphia, PA) by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. In January 2006, she testified before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

in support of the nomination of her colleague Samuel Alito to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. She took senior status in June 2011 and in February 2019 she announced her retirement from the bench after an investigation was launched into allegations that she committed judicial misconduct by participating in fraudulent tax and financial transactions. She is the sister of former U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

Early life and education

Barry was born Maryanne Trump in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on April 5, 1937, the eldest child of real-estate developer

Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...

and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. She is an elder sister of

, 45th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

. She attended Kew-Forest School. She graduated '' cum laude'' with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1958, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in public law and government from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1962. She later attended law school, earning her Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law in 1974.

Career

U.S. Attorney's Office

After being a homemaker for thirteen years, in 1974 Barry became an Assistant United States Attorney, one of only two women out of sixty-two lawyers in the office of the

United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...

. 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.

U.S. District Court

Barry was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on September 14, 1983, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by Henry Curtis Meanor. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on October 6, 1983, and received her commission the next day. In 1985, she recused herself in a drug-trafficking case due to her brother Donald's relationship with the accused trafficker. Her service in the district court ended on October 25, 1999, when she was elevated to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Barry's reputation on the bench was that of a tough judge with strong command of her courtroom. In 1989, while a district court judge in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.plea bargain that would have freed two county detectives accused of protecting a drug dealer, and forced the case to trial. The detectives were convicted and received jail terms. She also presided over the conviction of Louis Manna, the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

mobster accused of plotting to assassinate rival John Gotti.

U.S. Court of Appeals

A Republican, Barry was nominated to serve on the

by Democratic President

on June 17, 1999. She was nominated to fill the vacancy created when H. Lee Sarokin retired in 1996. (Clinton had nominated Robert Raymar to the seat in 1998, but that nomination had expired at the end of the year without being given a hearing by the

.) The Senate unanimously confirmed Barry on September 13, 1999. She received her commission on September 22, 1999. "I am deeply honored and very grateful for the nomination," Barry told the ''New Jersey Law Journal'' in 1999. "I am surprised I was approached on it. I assume that my record is good enough as a district court judge to be reached out to, and I'm glad that politics weren't a priority here." In January 2006, Barry testified in support of the appointment of fellow Third Circuit Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. In a 2006 ruling, ''Abou Cham v. Attorney General'', Barry was harshly critical of the conduct of a U.S. Immigration Court judge in a case involving a refugee from

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. The refugee petitioner was the nephew of former Gambian president

Dawda Jawara Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (16 May 1924 – 27 August 2019) was a Gambian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1962 to 1970, and then as the first President of the Gambia from 1970 to 1994. Jawara was born in Barajally, MacCarthy Island ...

, who had been deposed in a coup in 1994; the new regime had imprisoned or killed several of Cham's relatives, and outlawed their political party. Barry ruled in favor of Abou Cham; criticized Judge Donald Ferlise's questioning over a two-day hearing as bullying, belligerent, and abusive toward "an increasingly distraught petitioner"; and concluding that Cham had been "ground to bits" emotionally. Barry wrote that there was "not a modicum of courtesy, of respect or of any pretense of fairness" in Ferlise's treatment of Cham, which led Ferlise to conclude that Cham's testimony was not credible, and concluded that the Immigration Court's ruling was a "severe wound" on the American justice system. Ferlise was relieved of his duties shortly after Barry's decision. On June 30, 2011, Barry assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

. She took inactive senior status in the first week of February 2017, about two weeks after her brother's inauguration as president. Barry retired on February 11, 2019. Her retirement brought an end to an investigation of whether she had engaged in fraudulent tax schemes with her siblings that violated judicial conduct rules. The investigation closed without reaching a conclusion about the allegations.

Allegations of tax evasion

In October 2018, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' published an investigative report asserting that Barry, along with her father and siblings, had engaged in fraudulent and illegal activity for the purpose of limiting estate tax and gift tax liability stemming from Fred Trump's real estate enterprises. Investigative journalist

Susanne Craig Susanne Craig is a Canadian investigative journalist who works at ''The New York Times''. She was the reporter who was anonymously mailed Donald Trump's 1995 tax returns during the 2016 presidential election. In 2018, she was an author of ''The ...

discovered a filing Barry had made to the 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. ''The Times'' reported that All County Building Supply & Maintenance was a "sham company" formed in 1992 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 apartment 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". Its address was the

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 at the 2020 United States ce ...

, residence of John Walter, Fred Trump's nephew.According to the investigation by ''The Times''
John Walter (1934–2018)
managed Fred Trump's business records. Said records filled the basement of Walter's Manhasset residence. The investigation by ''The Times'' included thousands of documents such as "bank statements, financial audits, accounting ledgers, cash disbursement reports, invoices and canceled checks" and over 200 of Fred Trump's tax returns. In a follow-up article, ''The New York Times'' reported that the money illicitly earned by All County was split by the Trump siblings. In October 2018, as a result of the publication of this investigation, the

New York State Department of Taxation and Finance The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (NYSDTF) is the department of the New York state government responsible for taxation and revenue, including handling all tax forms and publications, and dispersing tax revenue to other agencie ...

began a review of the fraud allegations against Barry and her siblings. 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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juris ...

that an investigation into judicial misconduct by Barry had been launched, in regard to her alleged participation in fraudulent tax and financial transactions. Ten days later, Barry, a senior inactive judge at the time, announced her retirement from the bench, effectively ending the investigation.

Criticism of Donald Trump

Barry said little publicly about her brother during his presidency. In August 2020, Barry's 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 the president. Mary Trump publicly released a number of transcripts and audio excerpts of the conversations, including content that did not previously appear in Mary Trump's book published in July 2020, '' Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man''. 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." She added that her brother does not read books and had someone take the

college entrance exam The term College entrance exam may refer to any standardized test which is needed in order for one to be considered eligible for application by a post-secondary institution. Such examinations may include * SAT Reasoning Test, in the United Sta ...

in his place. She said, "It's the phoniness of it all. It's the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel." In the recordings, Barry also criticized the

Trump administration family separation policy The United States family separation policy under the Trump administration was presented to the public as a "zero tolerance" approach intended to deter illegal immigration and to encourage tougher legislation. In some cases, families followi ...

and previous bankruptcies of Trump's businesses, adding, "You can’t trust him."

Awards

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 Seton Hall University School of Law is the law school of Seton Hall University, and is located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Seton Hall Law is the only private law school in New Jersey, and, according to the ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankin ...

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."

Personal life

Barry's first husband was David Desmond; the couple divorced in 1980. In 1982, she married John Joseph Barry, a New Jersey lawyer. They were married 18 years before he died on April 9, 2000. She has one son from her first marriage, David William Desmond, who is a New York psychologist. In 2016, Barry gave $4 million to Fairfield University, a Catholic institution, to fund scholarships and endow the university's Center for

Ignatian Spirituality Ignatian spirituality, also known as Jesuit spirituality, is a Catholic spirituality founded on the experiences of the 16th-century Spanish saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. The main idea of this form of spirituality comes from ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Maryanne Trump 1937 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges American people of German descent American people of Scottish descent Assistant United States Attorneys Columbia University alumni Hofstra University alumni Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Lawyers from New York City Lawyers from Philadelphia Mount Holyoke College alumni New York (state) Republicans People from Jamaica Estates, Queens Pennsylvania Republicans Trump family United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Donald Trump 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges Fairfield University people