Ivanka Trump Dropped As Co-Defendant In $250 Million Lawsuit

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A New York appeals court has dismissed all claims against former President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump in a civil lawsuit brought by Attorney General Letitia James.

The New York Appellate Division’s First Department ruled unanimously this week to dismiss claims against Ivanka Trump because they were filed too late and she was no longer part of the Trump Organization during the relevant period.

“The allegations against defendant Ivanka Trump do not support any claims that accrued after February 6, 2016. Thus, all claims against her should have been dismissed as untimely,” the judges wrote in the decision.

While the judges denied the former president’s motion to dismiss the case, they agreed to limit the time frame of some of the claims against the other defendants, barring some claims before 2016 and others before 2014.

The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing while the former president has accused James of engaging in a politically-motivated prosecution.

‘Witch Hunt,’ Claims Trump

James’ civil lawsuit, filed in September 2022, seeks at least $250 million in damages from Trump, his adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, the Trump Organization and others. It also seeks to block the Trumps from operating businesses in the state of New York.

The suit accuses Trump of lying about asset values in order to secure better terms for loans and insurance

It alleges that, for about a decade between 2011 and 2021, Trump fraudulently manipulated asset valuations, including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, and his own net worth.

James wants the Trump Organization to be barred from doing business in New York, from engaging in real estate acquisitions in the state for five years, and for Trump and his children to be barred from serving as high-level executives at any New York company.

Trump, who is the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, has called James’ lawsuit a politically-motivated “witch hunt” meant to thwart his bid for the White House.

A spokesperson for the New York Attorney General’s office said in a statement to media outlets following Tuesday’s appellate court ruling that there’s enough evidence for the case to proceed against the other defendants.

“There is a mountain of evidence that shows Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for significant economic gain,” a spokeswoman for James said.

“This decision allows us to hold him accountable for that fraud, and we intend to do so,” the spokesperson added.

Christopher Kise, a lawyer for the former president and most of the other defendants, said the ruling was “the first step” toward ending the lawsuit.

“The correct application of the law will now limit appropriately the previously unlimited reach of the attorney general,” he said.

“We remain confident that once all the real facts are known, there will be no doubt President Trump has built an extraordinarily successful business empire.”

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