Here are all the companies that Michael Cohen approached about providing access to Trump, and how they reacted

Business Insider

  • President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen approached a slew of companies following the election, offering access to the president.

  • A handful of them made payments to Cohen through a firm called Essential Consulting.

  • Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing the adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her court cases against Trump and Cohen, revealed the first companies in a report.

  • Here's a rundown of the companies Cohen talked to, whether they paid the lawyer, and their explanations of the contacts.

President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen approached a series of businesses in the aftermath of the 2016 election, offering corporations access to the new president, who happened to be his longtime client.

Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical firm; Korea Aerospace Industries, a South Korean defense contractor; and AT&T, the massive US telecom, all paid a Cohen-linked LLC named Essential Consulting more than $150,000 for services.

Reasons they gave for the payments varied from insight into the Trump administration to help with US accounting rules.

Other firms, including Ford and Uber, turned down Cohen's offer to provide insight into the nascent Trump administration.

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer representing the adult-film star Stormy Daniels, revealed the initial wave of connections on Tuesday in a report that detailed Cohen's finances. The Wall Street Journal reported Uber and Ford.

In addition to the payments from the companies, the report alleged that a $500,000 payment from Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg to a separate LLC shortly after the 2016 election helped pay alleged hush money to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

We've run down the full list of companies that Cohen contacted, whether they paid Cohen, and what they said about the Trump lawyer below.

More from Business Insider:
A Korean aerospace company caught up in the latest Michael Cohen scandal is 'well placed' to win an Air Force contract worth up to $16.3 billion
Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen called Novartis's CEO promising access to the president — then they made a $1.2 million deal
Stormy Daniels' lawyer makes bombshell allegation that Russians reimbursed Trump lawyer Michael Cohen after $130,000 hush payment

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