MSNBC: AT&T Paid Michael Cohen $600K To Help Try and Make Merger Go Through

EXCERPT:

GEIST: “Well, and remember Donald Trump during the campaign had come out very strongly against the AT&T/Time Warner merger. So, AT&T had reason to be concerned when Donald Trump was going to be elected, probably didn't expect he was going to be elected and were scrambling. And remember, Michael Cohen is not a lobbyist. He’s not a registered lobbyist. This was a payment to a guy they thought had the ear of Donald Trump and might be able to put his thumb on the scale and make this deal go through. That didn't work out for them. Let's get into the details of this story, Joe. A new report says that on the very first business day of the Trump Administration, the President’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, signed a contract with AT&T to receive $600,000 to consult on long-term planning as well as its pending merger with Time Warner, which the Justice Department eventually sued to block last November. Documents obtained by 'The Washington Post' show Cohen made the deal on January 23rd, 2017, within three days of President Trump’s inauguration and just four days after Cohen publicly announced he would represent Trump as president and would resign from the Trump Organization to avoid a, quote, perceived conflict."