Ivanka Trump dismissed from New York attorney general's fraud lawsuit against her father

NEW YORK -- A New York appeals court dismissed Ivanka Trump on Tuesday from a wide-ranging fraud lawsuit brought against her father and his company last year by the state's attorney general.

The civil lawsuit, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused former President Donald Trump of padding his net worth by billions of dollars and misleading banks, insurance companies and others about the value of his assets, including golf courses and the Mar-a-Lago estate. It named his three eldest children -- Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump -- as defendants, along with multiple Trump Organization executives.

In a ruling on Tuesday, the Appellate Division of New York’s Supreme Court dismissed the claims against Ivanka Trump, ruling that they were barred by the state's statute of limitations. While claims over alleged wrongdoing after February 2016 were permissible, the court said, Ivanka Trump had stepped back from involvement in the Trump Organization and wasn't accused in the lawsuit of any misconduct during that later time period.

The panel left it to a lower-court judge to determine whether other parts of the lawsuit would also be barred by the state's statute of limitations.

A representative for Ivanka Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment. James' office said in a statement that it planned to continue to pursue the case.

The lawsuit is the result of a three-year investigation into Trump and his business by James, a Democrat.

It details dozens of instances of alleged fraud, many involving claims made on annual financial statements that Trump would give to banks, business associates and financial magazines as proof of his riches as he sought loans and deals.

Trump has dismissed the investigation as a “politically motivated Witch Hunt.”

An attorney for Trump, Christopher Kise, said on Tuesday that the ruling “represented the first step towards ending a case that should never have been filed."

“Going forward, 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 and has simply done nothing other than generate tremendous profits for those financial institutions involved in the transactions at issue in the litigation,” he said.

James has said her investigation uncovered evidence of potential criminal violations by Trump, including insurance fraud and bank fraud, that would be referred to outside authorities.

She also said Ivanka Trump, who worked as executive vice president at the Trump Organization, personally participated in the effort to exaggerate her father's wealth and obtain favorable loan terms from banks and real-estate licensing deals.

Attorneys for Ivanka Trump disputed that, arguing that the lawsuit does not contain any evidence that she "directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed, or certified any of her father’s financial statements.”

The Attorney’s General Office is seeking a financial penalty of $250 million, as well as a ban on Trump and his family from doing business in New York. The case is set to go to trial in October.