President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, reportedly signed a $1.2 million contract with drugmaker Novartis in February 2017 on the promise that he could help the company gain access to the president and administration insiders. "He reached out to us," a Novartis employee told Stat, adding: "It was almost as if we were hiring him as a lobbyist."
On Tuesday night, The New York Times initially reported that Cohen's Essential Consultants LLC had at least $4.4 million pass through it, including $500,000 from Columbus Nova, a New York investment firm with deep ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Documents provided by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels, showed some $400,000 from Novartis passed through Essential Consultants between early 2017 and 2018. Vekselberg and officials at Novartis have reportedly been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team.
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.
-
Book review: 'Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus' and 'When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines'Feature The college dropout who ruled the magazine era and the mysteries surrounding Jesus Christ
-
Not invincible: Tech burned by tariff warFeature Tariffs on Asian countries are shaking up Silicon Valley, driving up prices and deepening global tensions
-
Fake AI job seekers are flooding U.S. companiesIn the Spotlight It's getting harder for hiring managers to screen out bogus AI-generated applicants
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
