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

Last month, Empire actor Jussie Smollett "said he was attacked by racist Trump supporters who beat him up, tied a rope around his neck, and poured bleach on him," Trevor Noah recapped on Tuesday's Daily Show. "But now police have found two Nigerian brothers who claim Jussie paid them to stage the attack. Now, the police searched their house and they found bleach, they found masks, and they found rope, so this is like the shortest CSI episode ever. ... I'm surprised they didn't also find a book called Faking Hate Crimes for Dummies."

Noah ran through more details with correspondent Jaboukie Young-White, who as a gay black actor like Smollett was both "disappointed" and also eager to try out for the Lifetime movie, or maybe Smollett's spot on Empire. "We're still piecing together leaks from the Chicago Police Department and more reliable sources like TMZ, but you couldn't have written a crazier plot," Young-White said. "I mean, Trump supporters who watch Empire?" He got serious about "gay panic" laws in 47 states that allow men lighter sentences for beating or killing LGBTQ men by claiming they were hitting on them. "Imagine if women could use that defense?" he said. "There would be no men left." (There's NSFW language.)

Whether Smollett is lying or telling the truth, "right now the story just doesn't make sense," Noah told the audience between scenes. "Like, why are two Nigerian guys walking around in Chicago's freezing weather and then shouting 'This is MAGA country'? That's a weird thing to shout as a Nigerian person." Either way, "this is a home run" for President Trump, "because so many people jumped on board before they even waited to see what it was about," he said. "We live in a world where people are too enthusiastic at jumping at stories that confirm their biases, instead of just pausing and going: What do I make of the story?" Peter Weber

"Hello, I'm Bernie Sanders and I'm yelling for president of the United States," Jimmy Fallon said on Tuesday's Tonight Show, recreating Tuesday morning's presidential campaign announcement by the Vermont senator. "Dozens of my fellow Democrats have already announced that they are running, but ... I have the most experience — literally. I am older than all 20 of them combined." Fallon's Sanders explained he was "speaking in all-caps" because "we need change, and that's why I'm asking you to elect me, the guy who did this three years ago and lost."

"Bernie made his campaign announcement this morning in the most Bernie way possible, on Vermont Public Radio," Stephen Colbert said at The Late Show. "After that he made it official by posting a flier on his local co-op bulletin board." Sanders finished second in 2016, but the 2020 field is much bigger, and much more diverse. "Here's the point: Bernie's not young," Colbert said. "But he's right: The political landscape has changed; the majority of Democratic candidates this time around have joined his revolution. He's not just Bernie Sanders — he's Grey Guevara!"

Sanders "would become the oldest American president ever — yes, and I mean that literally: He was born a few months before George Washington," Trevor Noah joked at The Daily Show. "But don't let Bernie's age fool you; this guy is as feisty as ever." He cheered Sanders' verbal middle finger to Howard Schultz, laughing: "Yo, I've missed Bernie so much."

Noah quickly switched to a fond rundown of the "scandals" plaguing the rest of the Democratic field: Kirsten Gillibrand eating chicken "wrong," Kamala Harris listening to rap in the wrong decade, and most scandalous of all, Cory Booker being "a healthy eater." President Trump's "scandals are so massive and exhausting — it's like, sex with a porn star, conflicts of interest, corruption, his Cabinet — it's been refreshing to have old-school silly scandals again," he said. Still, he laughed "I feel so bad for people who take Fox News seriously — it's got to be so much work." Watch below. Peter Weber

Scientists were thrilled to discover 10 rare burrowing owls earlier this month in an unexpected location: the edge of Los Angeles International Airport.

Several decades ago, the airport bought a development called Surfridge and demolished all of the houses. The empty land became the 302-acre LAX Dunes Preserve, which is now home to 900 plant and animal species, many of them endangered. Scientists say that the owls — the most seen there in 40 years — are a sign that a restoration project that began in the 1990s is a success. "This is very exciting — a real stunner," biologist Pete Bloom told the Los Angeles Times.

Planes roar over the fenced-in preserve, which is not open to the public. Volunteers coordinate with the airport to come in and clean up invasive weeds, helping make the preserve a place where different species can settle. In addition to the burrowing owls, researchers have recently spotted El Segundo blue butterflies, as well as California gnatcatchers, Blainville's horned lizards, and six legless lizards. They were overjoyed by that discovery, as legless lizards are hard to find and haven't been studied much. Catherine Garcia

CNN has hired Sarah Isgur, a longtime Republican political operative and recent Justice Department spokeswoman, as a political editor helping to steer the network's 2020 campaign coverage. The hire, first reported by Politico, caught CNN's editorial staff by surprise, not just because her résumé is full of partisan advocacy but also because it contains no experience in journalism or managing a TV news operation. She has also publicly disparaged the news media, including CNN. "It's extremely demoralizing for everyone here," one CNN editorial staffer told The Daily Beast.

CNN officials said Isgur will be one of several editors directing coverage of the Democratic primary and President Trump's re-election campaign at the network, reporting to political director David Chalian, and she'll also occasionally offer analysis on air. She will apparently not be involved in coverage of the Justice Department. TV networks often hire political operatives and politicians as analysts and program hosts, but it is very rare to bring them on to direct political news coverage.

Before joining the Trump administration as the top spokeswoman for former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Isgur served as a political adviser to Ted Cruz and Mitt Romney, was deputy communications director at the Republican National Committee, and served as deputy campaign manager for Carly Fiorina's presidential campaign. Thanks to comments she made about Trump while working for Fiorina, she had to personally pledge loyalty to Trump before he would allow Sessions to hire her, The Washington Post reported in April 2018. Peter Weber

After denying it for years, the federal government admitted that it shares the Terrorist Screening Database — better known as the terrorist watch list — with private entities, The Associated Press reports.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Muslims who say that because their names are wrongfully on the list, they have had to deal with harassment at airports and scrutiny from law enforcement. In September, a government lawyer said during a pre-trial hearing that the Terrorist Screening Center "does not work with private partners" and the list is "considered law enforcement sensitive information and is not shared with the public."

Earlier this month, Terrorist Screening Center Deputy Director of Operations Timothy Groh admitted in a written statement that 1,441 private groups have been granted access to the watchlist. Groh said that in order to receive permission, an organization must be somehow connected to the criminal justice system, AP reports. The government will not reveal how many people are on the list, but has said there are hundreds of thousands of names added every year, and names are regularly removed.

While the list is supposed to only include the names of known or suspected terrorists, critics say people are routinely added that have no ties to terrorism, and this hurts them. A lawyer for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Gadeir Abbas, has asked that the government explain in court which groups have access to the list, and what they are doing with it. "We've always suspected that there was private-sector dissemination of the terror watchlist, but we had no idea the breadth of the dissemination would be so large," he told AP. Catherine Garcia

Don Newcombe, a star pitcher for the Dodgers, died Tuesday, following a long illness. He was 92.

Dodgers president Stan Kasten said in a statement that Newcombe's "presence and life established him as a role model for major leaguers across the country. He was a constant presence at Dodger Stadium and players always gravitated toward him for his endless advice and friendship." Sandy Koufax said Newcombe was "a mentor at first, a friend at the end. He will be missed by anyone who got to know him."

After getting his start in the Negro Leagues, Newcombe broke barriers as one of the first black pitchers in Major League Baseball. Newcombe played for 10 seasons, starting with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949, and in 1956 he won the inaugural Cy Young Award and National League MVP. Following his retirement, Newcombe disclosed that he had a drinking problem, and after becoming sober in the 1960s, he raised awareness about alcohol abuse. He later worked with the Dodgers as director of community affairs and later special adviser to the team's chairman. Catherine Garcia