STORMY LAWYER SAYS RUSSIAN CONTRACTED TRUMP LAWYER
WASHINGTON— The lawyer of an American porn actress linked to US President Donald Trump claimed that Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen received substantial money from several companies, including a company associated with a sanctioned Russian billionaire.
Lawyer Michael Avenatti did not reveal the source of his information, provide documents to support his claims or explain how it was related to his client Stormy Daniels.
But he claimed Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg and his cousin “routed” eight payments, amounting to $500,000, to Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants, between January and August 2017.
Memo
Avenatti’s memo said the payments to Essential Consultants were made by Columbus Nova, an American investment company affiliated with the Renova Group, controlled by Vekselberg.
Columbus Nova confirmed it hired Cohen as a consultant “regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures,” but that it had nothing to do with Vekselberg.
“Neither Viktor Vekselberg nor anyone else, other than Columbus Nova’s owners, were involved in the decision to hire Cohen or provided funding for his engagement,” the company said.
Avenatti also claimed that hundreds of thousands of dollars streamed into Cohen’s account from companies including Novartis, AT&T and Korea Aerospace.
Avenatti did not explain how the transactions related to his client except to surmise the funds “may have replenished the account following the payment to Ms (Daniels).”
Connection confirmed
AT&T and Novartis confirmed its connection with Cohen, but maintained there was nothing irregular about the relationships.
At the time of the payments, there was an active FBI investigation—which special counsel Robert Mueller took over last May—into Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Trump associates.
Vekselberg was targeted for US sanctions by the Trump administration last month.
Offering confirmation for at least one of the payments, AT&T said in a statement that Essential Consultants was one of several firms it “engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration.”
“They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017,” the company said.—