AT&T apparently paid Michael Cohen $600,000 to help advise on its Time Warner merger, telecom policy
Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels' lawyer, was wrong: AT&T did not pay Michael Cohen, a personal lawyer for President Trump, $200,000 last year, as Avenatti said on Tuesday; the company paid Cohen $600,000, or $50,000 a month, for, among other things, "specific long-term planning initiatives as well as the immediate issue of corporate tax reform and the acquisition of Time Warner," according to a "scope of work" contract obtained by The Washington Post. AT&T is trying to complete an $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, and Trump had vowed to block the deal during the campaign; the Justice Department filed suit to thwart the merger in November.
AT&T is one of several corporations that paid Cohen at least $2.95 million through a shell company, Essential Consultants LLC, that he had set up to secretly pay Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an affair she said she had with Trump in 2006. Like other companies, AT&T said it hired Cohen and other "consultants" last year to give it an insight into the new administration. Along with the $600,000 to Cohen, AT&T donated $2 million to Trump's inaugural committee plus $80,000 in telecommunications equipment.
The Cohen contract represents about 3.5 percent of the $16.8 million AT&T reported spending on lobbying in 2017, though Cohen was explicitly hired for policy intitatives, not to lobby. "It is unclear what insight Cohen — a longtime real estate attorney and former taxicab operator — could have provided AT&T on complex telecom matters," the Post notes, adding that Cohen was also paid for health-care policy, accounting practices, and real estate. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that Trump was unaware of Cohen's lucrative consulting work. Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan told employees Thursday that "we made a mistake in entering into this engagement" with Cohen and its disclosure "was not a good day for Novartis."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Immigration helped the US economy outpace peers
speed read The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% last quarter
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
4-day workweek gets boost from UK study
Speed Read Following a six-month trial, the majority of participating British companies are still using the truncated schedule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Nvidia sees historic stock rise on AI chips success
Speed Read U.S. chipmaker Nvidia achieved the biggest one-day increase in value of any company in history
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York may seize Trump's assets for $450M penalty
Speed Read The former president likely owes $600 million from two civil judgments in New York
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published