 |
What was AT&T, the bluest of the blue-chips thinking? The telecommunications giant paid $200K to the shell company of Michael Cohen, personal injury lawyer and Donald Trump’s fixer, for insights into and understanding of the new administration.
Ma Bell does make it plain that none of the money that it paid Essential Consultants in 2017 was used for legal work or lobbying.
It’s good that AT&T cleared that up, though Essential Consultants is hardly a legal or lobbying powerhouse.
In fact, Essential Consulting is the firm that Cohen established to pay $130K to former porn star Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had sex with Donald Trump in 2006.
AT&T has the right to hire any firm or person that it likes for strategic advice. Cohen just doesn't fit AT&T's corporate profile. The New York Times on May 5 ran an extensive feature on Cohen's "shadowy business empire" and his alleged ties with Russian mobsters.
The telecommunications company isn’t the only entity to tap into the apparent savvy of Essential Consultants, which has Cohen as its sole employee.
Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has a close relationship with Vladimir Putin, is linked to Columbus Nova, a firm that paid $500K to Essential Consultants for services regarding potential sources of capital and real estate investments.
A spokesperson for Vekselberg, who is the biggest investor in Columbus Nova, said he had nothing to do with the decision to hire Essential Consultants.
AT&T is trying to seal its $85B acquisition of Time Warner, a deal opposed by the Trump Administration.
Trump has been in the public spotlight for eons. What unique “insights” did AT&T expect to get from Cohen? The Trump Administration is not exactly a complex organization.
The payment to Essential Consultants sure looks like a pay-for-play move.
At the very least, it was lousy PR.
FIFA is expected to scrap its “FIFA Peace Prize-Football Unites the World” award at its December council meeting. That’s not enough... Big Oil is loaded with cash flowing from the Iran war. Wall Street wants to know how will it spend the windfall... More and more killers of journalists are escaping punishment.
Will White House press secretary Katie Zacharia remain on the job for two or three Scaramuccis?... President Trump reaches a new low with wicked deal to buy diesel from his puppet-master Vladimir Putin... Russian influence operations pump out more than 900 stories in impersonated western media outlets to undermine support for Ukraine.
Donald Trump is 100 percent correct that he has lousy PR but that's only because his policies stink and are hurting Americans... Will billionaires or civil society groups shape the future of AI regulations?... "Evidence in an Age of Doubt" is the timely theme of this year's investigative film festival put on by the 100Reporters group. 
WPP CEO Cindy Rose works to manage shareholder expectations ahead of the Oct. 29 release of financials. Don't expect a miracle turnaround... Kudos to Skydance chief David Ellison for keeping CNN CEO Mark Thompson on the job. Now he has to expend Thompson's contract... Vast majority of Americans want federal government to regulate AI. They obviously don't trust the "super intelligence" president to oversee AI.
Don’t believe what your eyes see and ears hear is the mantra of Donald Trump who claims his propaganda advertising designed to boost his fragile ego are “clearly not campaign ads”... Democratic National Committee steps up outreach to Jewish Americans as antisemitism rises and traditional support for Israel tanks. 
