New York�s attorney general wants to put a stop to former President Donald Trump�s attempted end-run around a yearslong civil investigation into his business practices, asking a judge Wednesday to dismiss his lawsuit aimed at halting the probe.

Attorney General Letitia James argued in court papers that Trump�s lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in upstate New York, is a sudden �collateral attack� on her investigation � designed in part to shield him from a recent subpoena.

James, a Democrat, said there was no legal basis for Trump�s lawsuit and no evidence to support the Republican�s claim that the probe is purely political. She also said there�s no role for a federal court to intervene in an investigation that�s been overseen in part by a state court judge.

In a statement responding to Wednesday�s court filing, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said, �Once again, Letitia James fails to address her egregious and unethical conduct in her weak response to our complaint.�

Before the subpoena, Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, complied with the investigation and never challenged the underlying legal basis for the investigation or the attorney general�s office�s legal authority to conduct it, James said in the court papers.

James called claims in the lawsuit that her investigation wasn�t lawful or justified a �complete about-face,� after Trump previously agreed to turn over his 2014-2019 income tax returns to her office, while his company provided more than 900,000 documents and testimony from more than a dozen current and former employees.

Trump contends in the lawsuit that James� investigation into matters, including his company�s valuation of assets, violated his constitutional rights in a �thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates.�

The lawsuit describes James as having �personal disdain� for Trump, pointing to numerous statements she�s made about him, including her boast that her office sued his administration 76 times and tweets during her 2018 campaign that she had her �eyes on Trump Tower� and that Trump was �running out of time.�

In fighting subpoenas James issued to Trump and his two eldest children, Trump�s lawyers have argued that any testimony they give in her civil investigation could be used against them in a parallel criminal investigation being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney�s office.

Trump is seeking a permanent injunction barring James from investigating him and preventing her from being involved in any �civil or criminal� investigations against him and his company. Although the civil investigation is separate, James� office has also been involved in the criminal probe.

Trump also wants a judge to declare that James violated his free speech and due process rights. A conference in the case is scheduled for March 21 in Albany before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel.

In a state court filing last week seeking to force Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to comply with subpoenas, James� office said it had uncovered evidence the Trump Organization used �fraudulent or misleading� valuations of its golf clubs, skyscrapers and other property to get loans and tax benefits.

James said her office hasn�t decided whether to bring a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, but that investigators should be allowed to question Trump and his two eldest children under oath as part of the probe. A state court judge, Arthur Engoron, has scheduled arguments in the subpoena dispute for Feb. 17.

In Wednesday�s court filing, James pushed back at Trump�s contention that her investigation is political, saying her public statements also pertained to litigation her office brought on behalf of state residents, such as a lawsuit challenging his plans for the 2020 census and a lawsuit that led to the closure of Trump�s charity over misspending concerns.

Allegations of political bias based on �snippets of press releases, tweets, and public appearances� are legally insufficient and �do not support a plausible inference that the investigation lacks any objective, reasonable basis,� James� office said in its motion to dismiss.

James announced a run for New York governor in late October but suspended her campaign in December, citing ongoing investigations in her decision to instead seek reelection as state attorney general.

(AP)