Michael Cohen was the personal attorney for Donald Trump. He was known as the 'fixer.' He was not offered a position with the Trump administration but he still used his influence and the fact that he knew Donald Trump, to make money.
He sold his services to different companies after Trump was elected. A Korean defense contractor, AT&T, and Novartis were some of his new clients. He used a company called Essential Consultants, LLC. He set it up a month before the election. It was around about the same time that Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000.
Michael Cohen's company
The Essential Consultants, LLC was the company that paid Stormy Daniels. He continued the company after the payout to Daniels. He actually recruited companies such as AT&T because they were going to need help understanding Trump's motives.
AT&T was going through a merger with Time-Warner. They would have to go through an antitrust hearing due to this business transaction. They wanted to get insight on how to deal with Donald Trump. They admitted to paying Michael Cohen and that he was not really the help that they needed. They ended their arrangement with Cohen after paying him $200,000.
Another company Michael Cohen recruited was Novartis. They are the world's biggest drug maker.
Due to the nature of their business, they have to interact with the government, especially concerning drug approvals.
Their contract allowed them to exit the arrangement as long as they proved just cause. They opted out of the contract, but still paid Essential Consultants, LLC, 1.2 million dollars. They realized after their initial meeting that he could not give them the required information.
Michael Cohen's business, Essential Consultants, LLC collected an estimated total of $2.2 million from corporate clients. He did really well just by knowing Donald Trump and really not having any knowledge of Trump's presidency. He even bragged to a fellow associate stating, “I'm crushing it,” according to My San Antonio website.
Michael Cohen's connection to Trump
Michael Cohen was Donald Trump's personal attorney. He used his company Essential Consultants, LLC to pay Stormy Daniels for an alleged affair that happened many years prior to Trump being elected. He did not have any knowledge of his current situation as President and was not a part of the administration.
He used his past relationship with Trump to garner new business. In a little over a year, he was able to collect $2.2 million because companies thought they could get insight from him. A new president and companies were trying to figure out how to do business with the new president.
One of the companies he did business with was called Squire Patton Boggs.
They are a lobbying firm and they signed Michael Cohen to a $500,000 contract. They did not have any type of relationship with Donald Trump. The company assumed that he could help them understand Trump. They are now trying to minimize contact with him due to his legal problems.
Michael Cohen's ethics
He signed the contract with Squire Patton Briggs a lobbying firm and he did not disclose the company, Essential Consultants, LLC or himself as a lobbyist. The Lobbying Disclosure Act states that everyone involved in lobbying must register as a lobbyist. He failed to disclose his involvement with Squire Patton Briggs.
This is not a foregone conclusion. He did sign the contract as an active attorney so he could claim that he was working as their attorney and not a lobbyist.
The company was using him to gain clients because he was Donald Trump's personal attorney. Squire Patton Briggs did actually sign five clients due to his presence with their firm. As of now, those clients have not been identified.
Another possible violation of the law would be corruption. He gained contracts under false pretenses as he was selling information that he really did not have. He was gaining clients because of his relationship with Trump and no other knowledge.
Michael Cohen made sure that everyone knew he had a relationship with Trump. He ensured that he had multiple pictures taken with him and Trump. This made people believe that he had a close working relationship with Donald Trump.
This would also give the impression he was with Donald Trump a lot more than he actually was. If not corruption, at a minimum this sounds like fraudulent behavior.
His ethics can be called into question but it is not against the law to be unethical. He profited from his relationship with Donald Trump. He was not a member of his administration and was not as close to Trump as he claimed.
Ethics is a gray area. Laws are usually created from ethical violations but they are not considered against law. The question that everyone needs to ask, is how credible is Michael Cohen? Robert Mueller has investigated him plus the companies he has been doing business with. The last few cases Mueller brought before Judges have all ended up being questioned about their ulterior motives.
Robert Mueller is hoping the charges against Michael Cohen might lead to him turning state evidence.
Michael Cohen has most likely broken the law with his business dealings. He sold knowledge that he really did not have, to the highest bidder. The case against him is somewhat circumstantial. A prosecutor could probably get a plea deal from Michael Cohen. The burning question is whether that plea could lead to more problems for Donald Trump and the Russia collusion case that is still under investigation.
