 Michael Cohen |
Novartis announced that Felix Ehrat, group general counsel, will retire June 1 due to fallout from his decision to pay $1.2M to a shell company formed by Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer and “fixer.”
”Although the contract was legally in order, it was an error,” said a statement from Ehrat. “As a co-signatory with our former CEO, I take personal responsibility to bring the public debate on this matter to an end.”
Novartis chairman Jorg Reinhardt said he appreciated Ehrat’s decision to quit though he regrets his departure.
Novartis paid $100K monthly to Cohen’s Essential Consultants, which was formed to funnel $130K to porn star and alleged 2016 Trump sex partner Stormy Davis. The contract expired in February.
The Swiss pharmaceuticals giant hired Essential Consultants to “get out ahead” in understanding Team Trump’s healthcare agenda.
Ehrat, general counsel since 2011, signed the Essential Consultants pact with former Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez.
Vas Narasimhan, who succeeded Jimenez in February, told staffers that he was not involved with the Essential Consultants arrangement.
Shannon Thyme Klinger, chief ethics, risk and compliance officer, will take over for Ehrat.
If you’re like a lot of people, you have been obsessed with “Love Story,” the FX series that has been airing for the past eight weeks about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. But why didn’t Kennedy use crisis PR to deal with the paparazzi, the news media and the tabloids?
Much is made of the importance of proper planning to anticipate and manage a crisis—but what matters most is understanding how decisions will be made once the crisis is underway.
Slow and procedural messaging without emotional resonance, fragmented leadership communication, overwhelming policy‑heavy language and a pervasive gap between words and observable action have repeatedly undermined corporate credibility.
New York Magazine profiles 78-year-old Peggy Siegal, who was once among the most powerful publicists in the Big Apple, in an article headlined: "The Grand Dame of the Epstein Files.”
