Novartis says it got nothing from a $1.2M consulting deal with Trump’s lawyer
Scandal erupted when Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, claimed Novartis made “suspicious financial transactions” to President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Novartis admitted its payments totaled $1.2M to Michael Cohen for consulting, but that they did not work with him.
Novartis struck a one-year agreement with Essential Consultants last February. The company thought Essential could help advise it on Trump’s approach to healthcare policy. But when Novartis met with Cohen in March, it decided that Cohen wouldn’t be able to provide the services anticipated and chose not to work with him. However, the $100,000 monthly payments stipulated by the contract still came due. The contract could only be terminated for cause, so payments continued to be made until the contract expired in February 2018.
Novartis has been cooperating with all investigations and is cracking down on compliance problems.
