Maryanne Trump Barry


Maryanne Trump Barry is an American attorney and a retired United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, appointed by President Bill Clinton. She is the eldest sister of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Early life and education

Barry was born Maryanne Trump in Queens in New York City on April 5, 1937, the eldest child of real-estate developer Fred Trump and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. She is an elder sister of Donald Trump. She attended Kew-Forest School. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1958, and a Master of Arts in public law and government from Columbia University in 1962. She later attended law school, earning her Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law in 1974.

Career

Barry was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1974 to 1983. 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.

Federal judicial service

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 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 alleged trafficker. Her service terminated on October 25, 1999, due to her elevation to the Third Circuit.
A Republican, Barry was nominated to a judgeship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by Democratic President Bill Clinton on June 17, 1999. Barry was nominated to replace H. Lee Sarokin, who had 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 Senate Judiciary Committee. Barry was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on September 13, 1999 and 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."
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, she disapproved a 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 mobster accused of plotting to assassinate rival John Gotti.
In January 2006, Barry testified in support of the appointment of fellow Third Circuit Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
On June 30, 2011, Barry assumed senior status. She took inactive senior status in the first week of February 2017, about two weeks after her brother's inauguration as President.
Barry retired from active judicial service 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 as to the merits of the allegations.

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 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, she gave $4 million to Fairfield University, a Catholic institution, to fund scholarships and endow the university's Center for Ignatian Spirituality.

Allegations of tax evasion

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 for the purpose of limiting estate tax and gift tax liability stemming from Fred Trump's real estate enterprises. Investigative journalist Susanne Craig discovered a critical piece of information in the investigation: a filing Barry had made to the Senate as part of her federal judiciary confirmation 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 All County Building Supply & Maintenance, 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, residence of John Walter, Fred Trump's nephew. 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 began a review of the fraud allegations against Barry and her siblings.