Major Trump donor reportedly agreed to pay Cohen $10 million for help securing a federal loan


Earlier this year, Franklin L. Haney, one of President Trump's major donors, agreed to pay Michael Cohen $10 million if he could secure funding for a nuclear power project in Alabama, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
Haney gave Cohen, then Trump's personal lawyer, the contract in April. The agreement would have involved Cohen helping Haney obtain a $5 billion loan from the Department of Energy in order to complete the construction of nuclear reactors at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant, the Journal reports. People familiar with the agreement told the Journal it was finalized right before FBI agents raided Cohen's home, office, and hotel room, and it's no longer in effect.
Under the contract, Cohen would have been paid a monthly retainer, plus $10 million if he got the full funding for the project; otherwise the amount would have been reduced depending on how much he was able to secure. Haney's lawyer, Larry Blust, told the Journal that "neither Mr. Haney nor Nuclear Development LLC ever entered into a contract with Michael Cohen or his affiliate for lobbying services related to the Bellefonte project." Cohen did call Energy Department officials to ask about the loan guarantee process, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal, but never spoke with Energy Secretary Rick Perry. The Journal was not able to determine if Cohen was ever paid any monthly retainer fees.
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.
After the election, Cohen worked as a consultant to several companies, including AT&T and Novartis, touting his close ties to Trump. Federal investigators in New York are reportedly looking into whether Cohen participated in unregistered lobbying in connection with this work. Read more about the deal with Haney at The Wall Street Journal.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Lavender marriage grows in generational appeal
In the spotlight Millennials and Gen Z are embracing these unions to combat financial uncertainty and the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights
-
The 5 best zombie TV shows of all time
The Week Recommends For undead aficionados, the age of abundance has truly arrived
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits