[Rajoo]

AT&T, Novartis Ties to Cohen Reveal Backdoor Bids to Reach Trump

Both AT&T and Novartis confirmed they made the payments to Cohen in a bid for understanding and access in the new administration. Cohen initiated the discussions with Novartis, according to a person familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because the matter isn’t public.

Novartis said it paid Cohen $1.2 million in 12 monthly payments beginning in February 2017, just days after Trump’s inauguration. Novartis said it determined early on that Cohen wasn’t going to be able to help with heath-care policy matters, but it continued to make payments until the contract expired because it couldn’t be terminated for cause.

Besides Cohen, others have taken on consulting roles based on their access to Trump, including his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski, who has been an occasional visitor to the White House and has traveled at least twice with the president on Air Force One, established consulting businesses after the election, but never registered to lobby.
Trump Access

Elliott Broidy, a major fundraiser for Trump’s campaign, sought to profit from his access to the president, according to emails that were hacked and leaked to the media. According to a three-page summary of a meeting in the Oval Office last October, Broidy touted the creation of a counterterrorism task force consisting of 5,000 Muslim soldiers who would fight the Taliban and Islamic State -- with help from one of Broidy’s companies, Circinus LLC, a defense contractor based in Virginia.

Broidy suggested to the president that the deputy commander of the United Arab Emirates’ armed forces meet with Trump in New York or New Jersey. Two months later, the UAE, which had joined Saudi Arabia in an embargo of Qatar that Broidy supported, awarded a $200 million contract to Circinus to perform confidential work, according to Broidy.

Cohen and Broidy were also deputy finance chairmen for the RNC.

http://fortune.com/2018/04/10/the-mi...nal-committee/