Here’s what you need to know…
Maryanne Trump Barry, the elder sister of former President Donald Trump, passed away at the age of 86 on Monday, as confirmed by the New York City Police Department to Fox News.
According to Fox, Barry was a retired federal appellate judge who concluded her judicial career in April 2019, according to information from the New York Times. Sources close to the matter reported that she peacefully passed away at her residence in Manhattan, New York City. It is said she was found in the morning.
In 2016, Donald Trump referred to his sister as a “highly respected judge,” while acknowledging their disagreements on public policy matters.
Four years later, Trump dismissed the secret audio recordings in which Barry was heard saying he had “no principles” and was “cruel.”
“At the end of the day, it’s always something new; who really cares?” Trump commented in response to the recordings, as reported by the Washington Post.
The Post’s article about the recordings came shortly after the White House hosted a private memorial service for Robert Trump, the president’s younger brother, who passed away on August 15, 2020, at the age of 71.
The recordings of Barry were made by Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s niece, who authored a revealing tell-all book about the president and their family.
Barry was recorded saying, “Donald is cruel” during a secretly recorded conversation in 2018.
“All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean, my God, if you were a religious person, you’d want to help people, not do this,” she allegedly stated in the recording published by the Post. She was referring to the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy at the U.S.-Mexico border, which led to the separation of children from their parents during immigration court proceedings. The policy was later revoked.
During her legal career, Barry served as a federal prosecutor before being nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan to the Federal District Court in New Jersey in 1983, according to the New York Times.
In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as reported by the newspaper.
Shortly after Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017, Barry informed the court that she would cease hearing cases, as noted by the New York Times.