CNN
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A New York appeals court has dismissed Ivanka Trump as a co-defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump, his children and the Trump Organization, according to a court order filed Tuesday.
James filed the lawsuit against the former US president, three of his adult children, and the Trump Organization, among others, last September, alleging they were involved in an expansive fraud lasting over a decade that the former president used to enrich himself.
The court order dismissed the claims against Ivanka Trump as untimely after finding that she was not a party to an August 2021 agreement between James’ office and the Trump Organization to toll the statute of limitations.
“The record before us…indicates that defendant Ivanka Trump was no longer within the agreement’s definition of ‘Trump Organization’ by the date the tolling agreement was executed,” the order states. “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.”
A spokesperson for James’ office told CNN in a statement Tuesday evening, “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.”
“Those facts haven’t changed. This decision allows us to hold him accountable for that fraud, and we intend to do so,” the statement said.
As for the other defendants, the appellate court denied most of their arguments, but ruled that the claims against them should be dismissed unless they accrued before July 2014 for the defendants subject to the tolling agreement, or otherwise before February 2016 for the remaining defendants.
The appellate court referred the case back to the trial court to “determine, if necessary, the full range of defendants bound by the [August 2021] tolling agreement.”
In the more than 200-page lawsuit, James, a Democrat, alleged the fraud touched all aspects of the Trump business, including its properties and golf courses. According to the lawsuit, the Trump Organization deceived lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of his properties using misleading appraisals.
Trump and his children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, were named as defendants in the lawsuit. Allen Weisselberg, former CFO for the Trump Organization, and Jeff McConney, another longtime company executive, are also named.
This story has been updated with additional information.
