Michael Cohen set up Essential Consulting LLC in October 2016, apparently as a way to covertly transfer $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels, but since then at least $4.4 million has passed through the company, The New York Times reports, confirming a report from Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti. Those transactions include $200,000 from AT&T, nearly $400,000 from a U.S. subsidiary of Swiss drugmaker Novartis, $150,000 from Korea Aerospace Industries — all companies with business contingent on President Trump's administration — and most intriguingly, $500,000 from Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm with deep ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
Avenatti suggested Cohen's use of the LLC violated banking laws. It's unclear whether any of the transactions were "improper," the Times said, but "the financial records indicate that at least some of the money that passed through Essential Consultants was from sources and in amounts that were inconsistent with the company's stated purpose."
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