Michael Cohen, the personal lawyer of Donald Trump currently under criminal investigation for his business dealings, aggressively pitched himself to potential clients for his connection with the president, efforts that landed him lucrative consulting deals, The Washington Post reports.
AT&T paid up to $200,000 to Essential Consultants, one of Cohen’s shell companies set up in October 2016, to “provide insights into understanding the new administration,” while a company linked to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, Columbus Nova, said it shelled out about $500,000 to Cohen to help with investments.
Swiss drug maker Novartis, which contracted Cohen for a year at a cost of $1.2 million, said it “believed that Michael Cohen could advise the company as to how the Trump administration might approach certain US healthcare policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act.”
But, Novartis spokeswomen Sofina Mirza-Reid said after an initial meeting with Cohen the company decided he wasn’t of much use, “and the decision was not to engage further.” Still, Cohen received his payment because the company could not terminate the contract “for cause.”
Korea Airspace Industries paid Cohen’s company $150,000, but said it was for his firm to “inform reorganization of our internal accounting system.”
Squire Patton Boggs, a lobbying firm based out of Washington, hired Cohen for an annual $500,000 “strategic alliance fee,” though the veteran attorney did little for the company, per Law360.
The lawyer representing adult film star Stormy Daniels first discussed the payments on Tuesday. Daniels was paid $130,000 from the Essentials Consultants firm as part of an agreement to prevent the porn star from discussing her alleged affair with Trump.
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