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."

Vekselberg, one of the richest men in Russia, has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is under U.S. sanctions (as is his company, Renova Group), has reportedly been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators, reportedly met with Cohen at Trump's inauguration, and attended the December 2015 dinner in Moscow where Putin was seated next to Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Columbus Nova, run by Andrew Intrater — Vekselberg's American cousin and "a former director and current member of the executive board of Renova Group," according to Columba Nova's website — said Cohen's payments were business consulting fees, the company was never owned or controlled by Vekselberg, Vekselberg had no role in hiring Cohen, and "reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false." Until last November, the Renova Group's website listed Columbus Nova as one of its "companies," NBC News reports.

NBC News also "reviewed financial documents that appear to support Avenatti's account of the transactions," and a source told The Daily Beast that Avenatti's assertions about Columbus Nova were accurate, adding: "How the f--k did Avenatti find out?" Avenatti hinted at the answer on CNN Tuesday night, telling Anderson Cooper that "because we're so out front on this, people send us information."

You can read more details about Cohen's LLC at The New York Times, and The Washington Post has an incomplete chart of its money flow. Peter Weber

The CIA has "high confidence" that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, officials first told The Washington Post.

The CIA reportedly drew its evidence from, among other things, a phone call between Khashoggi and bin Salman's brother Khalid bin Salman, in which Khalid told Khashoggi to visit the Saudi consulate where he was killed. The crown prince told Khalid to make the call, per the Post. A team of 15 Saudi operatives then reportedly flew via government airplane to Istanbul for the murder.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 17 Saudis it said were "involved in" Khashoggi's murder earlier this week. But this is furthest the U.S. has gone toward implicating Saudi Arabia for the crime, per reports from multiple sources.

Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, and Turkey has long maintained the Saudi government was responsible. Saudi Arabia once said the murder was a predetermined rogue operation, but shifted to say it was a random killing when announcing charges against 11 alleged perpetrators earlier this week. Bin Salman is close with President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, and some have suggested the Trump administration avoided implicating Saudi Arabia to preserve an alliance with the country.

A spokeswoman for America's Saudi consulate told the Post that the CIA's claims in its "purported assessment are false." Kathryn Krawczyk

Democrat Stacey Abrams on Friday said that it was not possible for her to win the gubernatorial race in Georgia, admitting defeat against Republican Brian Kemp, who had already declared victory in the hotly contested race, reports NPR.

On Election Day, the race was too close to call, and Abrams accused Kemp of suppressing votes as Georgia's secretary of state in an effort to become governor. "I acknowledge that [Kemp] will be certified the victor in the 2018 gubernatorial elections," Abrams said, saying her remarks were not a concession speech. "Concession means to acknowledge an act is right, true, or proper. ... I cannot concede that." She said she would file a federal lawsuit to contest the "gross mismanagement" of the election. Abrams' campaign has said there was evidence of "misconduct, fraud, or irregularities" that may have been enough "to change or place in doubt the results."

Kemp responded to her speech by applauding her "passion and hard work," but said "we can no longer dwell on the divisive politics of the past" and must "move forward." Watch Abrams' remarks below, via CBS News. Summer Meza

President Trump once convinced drug manufacturer Pfizer to curb its price hikes. This time, he may not be so lucky.

America's biggest drug manufacturer announced Friday it would increase prices on 10 percent of its prescriptions in January, Bloomberg reports. The move comes after Republicans lost the House in last week's midterms — something experts suggest isn't a coincidence.

The price hike affects 41 prescription drugs in Pfizer's portfolio, The Wall Street Journal has learned. Most of the drugs will see a 5 percent price increase, but some could be up to 9 percent. "Newly approved medicines and sterile injectables" aren't included in the hike, the Journal writes.

Pfizer announced a similar increase on more than 40 drugs back in July, with many slated for price hikes of 9.4 percent and even higher. Trump quickly criticized the move on Twitter, and after a conversation between the president and Pfizer CEO Ian Read, Pfizer said it would delay the increases "to give the president an opportunity to work on his blueprint to strengthen the health-care system."

After Friday's revelation, Andy Slavitt, the former head of Medicare and Medicaid, suggested in a tweet that Pfizer was "back to business" now that the midterms are over. After all, Democrats will soon take over the House, limiting Trump's ability to revamp the health-care system. Trump also still hasn't enacted his plan to lower drug costs, Bloomberg notes. And Read, who the Journal says "supports the Trump administration," is stepping down as Pfizer's CEO in January.

A spokeswoman for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar criticized the move, telling Bloomberg it shows the "perverse incentives of America's drug pricing system." Kathryn Krawczyk

First they're sour, then they're sweet. Now, they're a cereal.

That's right, Sour Patch Kids, the gummy candy shaped like small children, is joining the likes of Reese's and bringing candy to the breakfast table. Sour Patch Kids cereal will make its debut Dec. 26, and will be sold exclusively at Walmart, reports Today.

Unlike other candy cereals like Post's Oreo O's, which create delicious chocolate milk in your bowl, the $3.98 neon-colored box of Sour Patch Kids cereal will purposefully turn your milk sour. The cereal will have a "sour coating" and "sweet finish," just like the candy, says Mashable.

If you actually want to try this questionable concoction, Today says you'll find it on various retailers' shelves across the country starting in June 2019. Don't worry, you don't need ID to buy it. Taylor Watson

President Trump got a boatload of flack for not making the traditional Veterans Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery. And unlike his rainy day debacle in France, he doesn't have anyone else to blame.

In a Friday interview, Fox News' Chris Wallace asked Trump why he didn't stop by Arlington earlier this week. "I should have done that," Trump responded, before adding that he "was extremely busy on calls for the country." Still, in what The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey called "a rare showing of regret," Trump continued to say "in retrospect he should have" made the visit and he "will virtually every year."

On Saturday, Trump also skipped a rainy World War I memorial service just outside Paris due to what the White House called "scheduling and logistical difficulties caused by the weather." But the president wasn't bogged down by international calls that time — It was apparently the Secret Service's fault. Kathryn Krawczyk

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' revamped campus sexual assault plans, more than a year in the making, are here.

DeVos has long sought to bolster the rights of college students accused of sexual assault, officially announcing her intent to revamp Obama-era rules last September. Those new rules, which Devos said "ensur[e] a fair grievance process," were unveiled Friday.

Under former President Barack Obama's administration, Title IX, the law that outlaws gender discrimination in schools, was implemented in a way that was meant to strengthen the power of sexual assault victims. But DeVos argued that premise in September 2017, saying Obama-era policies have "failed too many students" because the "rights of one person can never be paramount to the rights of another."

This new proposal reflects that same stance. Obama-era rules required colleges to investigate any "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature," NPR notes. But the DeVos policy redefines sexual harassment as conduct "so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive" that it disrupts a student's learning environment, per Friday's statement. The new rules also rely heavily on "a presumption of innocence throughout the grievance process," and require schools hold "live hearing[s]" featuring "cross-examination."

Jess Davidson, executive director of End Rape on Campus, told Politico "this rule will return schools back to a time where rape, assault, and harassment were swept under the rug." A previous Education Department analysis showed these changes would cut sexual harassment inquiries by 39 percent, saving up to $400 million over the next decade. The publication of this proposal opens up a 60-day public comment period. Read the whole plan here. Kathryn Krawczyk