President Donald Trump

The New York attorney general filed a lawsuit against President Trump and his Trump Foundation directors, including his three eldest children, for $2.8 million on Thursday.

The suit claims the Trump Foundation used its charitable donations to benefit Mr. Trump, his family, and businesses he controlled.

“We are suing the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors @realDonaldTrump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump for extensive and persistent violations of state and federal law,” the AG’s office tweeted on Thursday morning.

“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,” state Attorney General Barbara Underwood said. “This is not how private foundations should function.”

President Donald Trump

Among the payments the lawsuit cited was a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star and sex worker who claimed to have a sexual encounter with Trump 16 years ago. She later sued Trump to let her out of a non-disclosure agreement.

President Trump immediately hit back at the attorney general on Twitter.com, saying the Trump Foundation gave out more money to charity than it took in.

“The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won’t settle this case!

Schneiderman, who ran the Clinton campaign in New York, never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years. Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle.”