Companies paid Cohen for insight into Trump

One company, pharmaceutical giant Novartis, acknowledged on Wednesday it paid Michael Cohen USD 1.2 million for services, though they ended after a single meeting.

Others, including some with major regulatory matters before the new administration, acknowledged payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars over at least several months.

The corporate ties could suggest Cohen was peddling his influence and profiting from his relationship with the president. They also raise questions about whether Trump knew about the arrangement.

Cohen's corporate ties were first revealed in a detailed report released by an attorney for pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels. The report alleged that Cohen used a company he established weeks before the 2016 election to receive the payments from a variety of businesses including USD 500,000 from one associated with a Russian billionaire.

Financial documents reviewed by the Associated Press appear to back up much of attorney Michael Avenatti's report.

Cohen's lawyers said late on Wednesday that much of the information released by Avenatti was "completely inaccurate."

They told a New York judge that Avenatti made statements "in an apparent attempt to prejudice and discredit Mr. Cohen" as he seeks to intervene in a civil case Cohen brought stemming from April 9 raids on his home and office. The raids were carried out by federal agents looking for evidence in a criminal probe. The lawyers wrote that some of the information Avenatti published Tuesday did appear to come from Cohen's actual bank records.

Aventti responded on Twitter, saying the attorneys "fail to address, let alone contradict, 99 per cent of the statements in what we released. Among other things, they effectively concede the receipt of the USD 500,000 from those with Russian ties."

Three companies confirmed the payments, including Novartis and AT&T, both saying Cohen's Essential Consultants was hired to help them understand the new president during the early days of the Trump administration.

Novartis said in a statement that it paid Cohen USD 100,000 a month for a year-long contract, thinking the longtime New York legal "fixer" with few Washington ties could advise on health care matters. After a single meeting they decided "not to engage further."

Some of the companies that engaged Cohen also had contact with Trump personally. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson met with him during the transition and has visited the White House as the company has sought approval to absorb Time Warner.