Porn star’s lawyer says Russian tycoon paid Trump attorney
WIRE TRANSFERS GOING INTO AND OUT OF ACCOUNT COHEN USED TO PAY DANIELS REVEALED
Stormy Daniels’ lawyer said on Tuesday he has information showing that Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney, received $500,000 (Dh1.83 million) from a company associated with a Russian billionaire within months of paying hush money to Daniels, a porn star who claims she had an affair with Trump.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti also said hundreds of thousands of dollars streamed into Cohen’s account from companies, including pharmaceutical giant Novartis, AT&T and Korea Aerospace, with US government business interests. AT&T confirmed its connection on Tuesday evening.
Avenatti did not reveal the source of his information or release documentation. But in a seven-page memo, Avenatti detailed what he said were wire transfers going into and out of the account Cohen used to pay Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to stay silent about her alleged affair with the soonto-be president. Trump denies having an affair with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Financial documents appear to back up Avenatti’s report.
The memo, containing highly specific dates and amounts, stated that Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian billionaire, and his cousin “routed” eight payments totalling approximately $500,000 to Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants, between January and August 2017. The reason for the payment was not known.
‘Replenished account’
Speculating without offering proof, the Avenatti memo said, “It appears these funds may have replenished the account following the payment to Ms. Clifford.”
Avenatti’s memo said the deposits into the account controlled by Cohen were made by Columbus Nova, an American investment company affiliated with the Renova Group, which is controlled by Vekselberg.
Columbus Nova’s attorney Richard Owens stressed in a statement that the company is “solely owned and controlled by Americans” and said that, after Trump’s inauguration, the firm hired Cohen as a business consultant “regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures,” but that it had nothing to do with Vekselberg.
Owens said any suggestion that Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Cohen was false.
Cohen is currently under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, but hasn’t been charged.
At the time of the payments, there was an active FBI counter-intelligence investigation into Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Trump associates.