Longtime Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen offered to provide access to President Trump when he reached a $1.2 million contract with pharmaceutical giant Novartis, firm members have revealed.
Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney and right-hand man, found himself in hot demand after the 2016 election as someone who could offer access to the new president. And the lawyer was quick to market himself to some big businesses to land some lucrative consulting deals.
‘I don’t know who’s been representing you, but you should fire them all. I’m the guy you should hire. I’m closest to the President. I’m his personal lawyer,’ a GOP strategist described Cohen’s sales pitch to CNN.
One of the companies Cohen sought out early on was pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
‘He was shopping himself around,’ a source told CNN.
A portion of the payments were first revealed by Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti as among part of what he said were $4 million in funds flowing through Cohen’s LLC bank account in 2017 and 2018.
The firm said the contract was ‘focused on U.S. healthcare policy matters.’
But anonymous members of the company now are claiming the deal was more about access.
‘He reached out to us,’ a Novartis employee told STAT amid the fallout from the revelations.
Longtime Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen had a $1.2 million contract with pharmaceutical giant Novartis
The outreach came as Trump’s new administration was about to shake up Washington – and as the candidate repeatedly said he would find a way to lower prescription drug costs.
‘With a new administration coming in, basically, all the traditional contacts disappeared and they were all new players. We were trying to find an inroad into the administration,’ the employee said. ‘Cohen promised access to not just Trump, but also the circle around him. It was almost as if we were hiring him as a lobbyist.’
But a March 2017 meeting with Cohen was a disappointment. ‘At first, it all sounded impressive, but toward the end of the meeting, everyone realized this was a probably a slippery slope to engage him. So they decided not to really engage Cohen for any activities after that,’ the employee said.
Another company official told NBC: ‘He contacted us after the new administration was in place. He was promising access to the new administration.’
As Avenatti noted, the payments came in the unusual increments of $98,980per month.
Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti first revealed the Novartis payments to Cohen
The funds went into an LLC also used to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels as part of a hush agreement
Critics like Michael Avenatti are already saying the payments violate Trump’s pledge to ‘drain the swamp’
The drug giant hired Trump’s longtime fixer as the future of Obamacare was up in the air
Firm reported $8.6 million in lobbying in 2017. In the first quarter report on $3.2 million in lobbying for this year, the firm mentions such issues as gene therapy, drug importation, Medicare Part D drug benefits, and generic drug labeling among dozens of issues where they sought to influence the government.
‘Michael Cohen was selling access to the highest office in the land,’ said Avenatti. ‘That Donald Trump knew about it. He knew that Michael Cohen was not a registere lobbyist,’ he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan dined with Trump and other CEOs in Davos
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders got pressed repeatedly about payments by Novartis, AT&T, and other firms to Cohen, and was asked whether Trump knew about the marketing.
‘I’m not aware. I would refer you to the outside counsel,’ she responded.
Cohen told reporters in New York Avenatti’s report was inaccurate, but without giving details.
The company said it paid Cohen for advice on ‘how the Trump administration might approach certain U.S. healthcare policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act.’
Trump vowed during the campaign to repeal Obamacare, and his first year in office featured a bitter fight over the health law enacted under his predecessor.
‘As the contract unfortunately could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018,’ according to a statement by the company.
The company said the deal was made under prior CEO Joe Jimenez. Current CEO Vas Narasimhan was among corporate heads who met with Trump in Davos, Switzerland. At a dinner, he hailed Trump’s Food and Drug Administration.
The firm said it had been contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office in November 2017 about the payments to Esssential Consultants and cooperated fully, the Wall Street Journal Reported.
President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen arrives at his hotel in New York City, U.S., May 9, 2018