The New York attorney general sued the Trump Foundation and its directors — Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump — on Thursday, alleging that the nonprofit was essentially a checkbook for personal and political gain.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said the foundation "operated in persistent violation" of state and federal charity laws.

The suit, filed on Thursday morning in Manhattan's New York State Supreme Court, alleges that the Trump Foundation, and specifically the president and his three children, engaged in a "pattern of illegal conduct" that included "improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations."

“As our investigation reveals, the Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality,” Underwood said in a statement.



Underwood began a special proceeding to dissolve the the foundation and requested that the foundation pay $2.8 million in restitution and penalties. Additionally, the suit asks that the president be banned from serving as a director of a nonprofit for 10 years and each of his three eldest children be banned for one year.

The investigation, first reported by the Washington Post, also began after an investigation by the newspaper into the Trump Foundation's dealing and transactions. The series of stories, led by reporter David Fahrenthold, won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017.

In response to the news of the suit, President Trump tweeted that he would not settle the case. "I won't settle this case!" the president tweeted after calling New York Democrats "sleazy."