AT&T paid Trump attorney Cohen for ‘insights’ on administration

May 9 (UPI) — Telcom giant AT&T said it paid President Donald Trump’s former attorney $200,000 in 2017 for insights into President Donald Trump’s administration.

The payments to Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney, were revealed in a document published by Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti on Tuesday.

The document said AT&T paid Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants, four separate installments of $50,000 in late 2017 and early 2018.

In the memo, Avenatti alleged AT&T’s were among multiple payments Essential Consultants received after the 2016 election. Others included about $500,000 from a company linked to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, nearly $400,000 from pharmaceutical giant Novartis and $150,000 from Korea Aerospace Industries.

Created in October 2016, Essential Consultants was used to funnel a $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels over an alleged affair she’d had with Trump, the document said.

AT&T confirmed paying Cohen Wednesday but disputed the timeline.

“Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration,” AT&T said. “They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017.”

The telecommunications conglomerate didn’t say how much it paid Cohen. Avenatti called on Cohen Wednesday to release his bank statements.

“Look, let me say this, to the extent that it’s not accurate, the president and Michael Cohen should clear this up this morning,” Avenatti told NBC News. “They should release the bank statements this morning.”