To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.

×
commondreams-mobile-logo
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.

* indicates required
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'Sketchy as Hell': AT&T Paid Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen for 'Insights' as FCC Worked to Kill Net Neutrality

Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer and confidante for President Donald Trump, leaves the United States District Court Southern District of New York on April 26, 2018 in New York City. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

'Sketchy as Hell': AT&T Paid Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen for 'Insights' as FCC Worked to Kill Net Neutrality

"Throughout the developing world this is more commonly called 'bribing.'"

While the news late Wednesday that a shell company set up by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen has raked in millions from a dizzying array of corporations spurred controversy for a variety of reasons, open internet advocates were quick to highlight "sketchy" payments AT&T made to Cohen for "insights" on the Trump administration at the same time as the telecom giant was working to merge with Time Warner and kill net neutrality.

"Say these words out loud: AT&T paid $200,000 to a shell company controlled by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, starting in early 2017 and ending right after Ajit Pai's FCC repealed net neutrality."
--Fight for the Future

According to financial records unveiled on Wednesday by Michael Avenatti, the attorney of adult film actress Stormy Daniels, AT&T paid Cohen's firm--called Essential Consultants L.L.C.--a total of $200,000 in four separate installments between October of 2017 and January of 2018.

Cohen's consulting outfit was the same shell company through which he made payments to Daniels.

The Republican-controlled FCC, led by Trump appointed chairman and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai, voted to repeal net neutrality last December.

AT&T, which has spent millions lobbying in favor of killing net neutrality, confirmed it made the payments shortly after the news broke Wednesday night.

"AT&T is sketchy as hell," Fight for the Future, one of the groups leading Wednesday's "red alert" day of action to save net neutrality, wrote in a Medium post late Wednesday.

"AT&T confirms the payment, and explains it away saying they paid Cohen as a consultant to 'gain insight' into the Trump White House," the group adds. "Not conclusive, but certainly fishy and worth looking into. In the meantime, the Senate is about to vote on a resolution to block the FCC repeal and restore net neutrality, so contact your lawmakers now."

As the New York Timesreports, "at least $4.4 million flowed through Essential Consultants starting shortly before Mr. Trump was elected president and continuing to this January."

The money came from a number of corporations, including the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and Columbus Nova, an investment firm with deep ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

In a tweet on Thursday, Avenatti mocked the reasons these companies have given for paying the firm of Trump's personal attorney.

"Who knew Mr. Cohen was such a brilliant renaissance man?" Avenatti wrote.

Attempting to track the newly revealed assortment of payments to Cohen's firm, the Washington Post published a helpful diagram that provides some semblance of clarity:

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
ajit paiat&tcorporate powerfccfight for the futuremichael cohennet neutralityopen internettechnologytime warnertrumpismverizon

While the news late Wednesday that a shell company set up by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen has raked in millions from a dizzying array of corporations spurred controversy for a variety of reasons, open internet advocates were quick to highlight "sketchy" payments AT&T made to Cohen for "insights" on the Trump administration at the same time as the telecom giant was working to merge with Time Warner and kill net neutrality.

"Say these words out loud: AT&T paid $200,000 to a shell company controlled by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, starting in early 2017 and ending right after Ajit Pai's FCC repealed net neutrality."
--Fight for the Future

According to financial records unveiled on Wednesday by Michael Avenatti, the attorney of adult film actress Stormy Daniels, AT&T paid Cohen's firm--called Essential Consultants L.L.C.--a total of $200,000 in four separate installments between October of 2017 and January of 2018.

Cohen's consulting outfit was the same shell company through which he made payments to Daniels.

The Republican-controlled FCC, led by Trump appointed chairman and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai, voted to repeal net neutrality last December.

AT&T, which has spent millions lobbying in favor of killing net neutrality, confirmed it made the payments shortly after the news broke Wednesday night.

"AT&T is sketchy as hell," Fight for the Future, one of the groups leading Wednesday's "red alert" day of action to save net neutrality, wrote in a Medium post late Wednesday.

"AT&T confirms the payment, and explains it away saying they paid Cohen as a consultant to 'gain insight' into the Trump White House," the group adds. "Not conclusive, but certainly fishy and worth looking into. In the meantime, the Senate is about to vote on a resolution to block the FCC repeal and restore net neutrality, so contact your lawmakers now."

As the New York Timesreports, "at least $4.4 million flowed through Essential Consultants starting shortly before Mr. Trump was elected president and continuing to this January."

The money came from a number of corporations, including the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and Columbus Nova, an investment firm with deep ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

In a tweet on Thursday, Avenatti mocked the reasons these companies have given for paying the firm of Trump's personal attorney.

"Who knew Mr. Cohen was such a brilliant renaissance man?" Avenatti wrote.

Attempting to track the newly revealed assortment of payments to Cohen's firm, the Washington Post published a helpful diagram that provides some semblance of clarity:

While the news late Wednesday that a shell company set up by President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen has raked in millions from a dizzying array of corporations spurred controversy for a variety of reasons, open internet advocates were quick to highlight "sketchy" payments AT&T made to Cohen for "insights" on the Trump administration at the same time as the telecom giant was working to merge with Time Warner and kill net neutrality.

"Say these words out loud: AT&T paid $200,000 to a shell company controlled by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen, starting in early 2017 and ending right after Ajit Pai's FCC repealed net neutrality."
--Fight for the Future

According to financial records unveiled on Wednesday by Michael Avenatti, the attorney of adult film actress Stormy Daniels, AT&T paid Cohen's firm--called Essential Consultants L.L.C.--a total of $200,000 in four separate installments between October of 2017 and January of 2018.

Cohen's consulting outfit was the same shell company through which he made payments to Daniels.

The Republican-controlled FCC, led by Trump appointed chairman and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai, voted to repeal net neutrality last December.

AT&T, which has spent millions lobbying in favor of killing net neutrality, confirmed it made the payments shortly after the news broke Wednesday night.

"AT&T is sketchy as hell," Fight for the Future, one of the groups leading Wednesday's "red alert" day of action to save net neutrality, wrote in a Medium post late Wednesday.

"AT&T confirms the payment, and explains it away saying they paid Cohen as a consultant to 'gain insight' into the Trump White House," the group adds. "Not conclusive, but certainly fishy and worth looking into. In the meantime, the Senate is about to vote on a resolution to block the FCC repeal and restore net neutrality, so contact your lawmakers now."

As the New York Timesreports, "at least $4.4 million flowed through Essential Consultants starting shortly before Mr. Trump was elected president and continuing to this January."

The money came from a number of corporations, including the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and Columbus Nova, an investment firm with deep ties to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.

In a tweet on Thursday, Avenatti mocked the reasons these companies have given for paying the firm of Trump's personal attorney.

"Who knew Mr. Cohen was such a brilliant renaissance man?" Avenatti wrote.

Attempting to track the newly revealed assortment of payments to Cohen's firm, the Washington Post published a helpful diagram that provides some semblance of clarity:

ajit paiat&tcorporate powerfccfight for the futuremichael cohennet neutralityopen internettechnologytime warnertrumpismverizon
Join the Conversation
"),t.type){case"pdf":if(a.default.isFirefox()||a.default.isEdge()||a.default.isIE())try{if(console.info("PrintJS currently doesn't support PDF printing in Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge."),!0===t.onBrowserIncompatible())window.open(t.fallbackPrintable,"_blank").focus(),t.onPdfOpen&&t.onPdfOpen()}catch(e){t.onError(e)}finally{t.showModal&&l.default.close(),t.onLoadingEnd&&t.onLoadingEnd()}else d.default.print(t,o);break;case"image":f.default.print(t,o);break;case"html":u.default.print(t,o);break;case"raw-html":c.default.print(t,o);break;case"json":s.default.print(t,o)}}}},function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(t,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r,o=n(0),i=(r=o)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r},a=n(1);function l(e,t,n){var r=new window.Blob([n],{type:"application/pdf"});r=window.URL.createObjectURL(r),t.setAttribute("src",r),i.default.send(e,t)}t.default={print:function(e,t){if(e.base64){var n=Uint8Array.from(atob(e.printable),function(e){return e.charCodeAt(0)});l(e,t,n)}else{e.printable=/^(blob|http)/i.test(e.printable)?e.printable:window.location.origin+("/"!==e.printable.charAt(0)?"/"+e.printable:e.printable);var r=new window.XMLHttpRequest;r.responseType="arraybuffer",r.addEventListener("load",function(){if(-1===[200,201].indexOf(r.status))return(0,a.cleanUp)(e),void e.onError(r.statusText);l(e,t,r.response)}),r.open("GET",e.printable,!0),r.send()}}}},function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(t,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r,o=n(1),i=n(0),a=(r=i)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};t.default={print:function(e,t){var n=document.getElementById(e.printable);n?(e.printableElement=function e(t,n){var r=t.cloneNode();var o=!0;var i=!1;var a=void 0;try{for(var l,d=t.childNodes[Symbol.iterator]();!(o=(l=d.next()).done);o=!0){var u=l.value;if(-1===n.ignoreElements.indexOf(u.id)){var c=e(u,n);r.appendChild(c)}}}catch(e){i=!0,a=e}finally{try{!o&&d.return&&d.return()}finally{if(i)throw a}}switch(t.tagName){case"SELECT":r.value=t.value;break;case"CANVAS":r.getContext("2d").drawImage(t,0,0)}return r}(n,e),e.header&&(0,o.addHeader)(e.printableElement,e),a.default.send(e,t)):window.console.error("Invalid HTML element id: "+e.printable)}}},function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(t,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r,o=n(0),i=(r=o)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};t.default={print:function(e,t){e.printableElement=document.createElement("div"),e.printableElement.setAttribute("style","width:100%"),e.printableElement.innerHTML=e.printable,i.default.send(e,t)}}},function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(t,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r,o=n(1),i=n(0),a=(r=i)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};t.default={print:function(r,e){r.printable.constructor!==Array&&(r.printable=[r.printable]),r.printableElement=document.createElement("div"),r.printable.forEach(function(e){var t=document.createElement("img");t.setAttribute("style",r.imageStyle),t.src=e;var n=document.createElement("div");n.appendChild(t),r.printableElement.appendChild(n)}),r.header&&(0,o.addHeader)(r.printableElement,r),a.default.send(r,e)}}},function(e,t,n){"use strict";Object.defineProperty(t,"__esModule",{value:!0});var r,o="function"==typeof Symbol&&"symbol"==typeof Symbol.iterator?function(e){return typeof e}:function(e){return e&&"function"==typeof Symbol&&e.constructor===Symbol&&e!==Symbol.prototype?"symbol":typeof e},c=n(1),i=n(0),a=(r=i)&&r.__esModule?r:{default:r};t.default={print:function(t,e){if("object"!==o(t.printable))throw new Error("Invalid javascript data object (JSON).");if("boolean"!=typeof t.repeatTableHeader)throw new Error("Invalid value for repeatTableHeader attribute (JSON).");if(!t.properties||!Array.isArray(t.properties))throw new Error("Invalid properties array for your JSON data.");t.properties=t.properties.map(function(e){return{field:"object"===(void 0===e?"undefined":o(e))?e.field:e,displayName:"object"===(void 0===e?"undefined":o(e))?e.displayName:e,columnSize:"object"===(void 0===e?"undefined":o(e))&&e.columnSize?e.columnSize+";":100/t.properties.length+"%;"}}),t.printableElement=document.createElement("div"),t.header&&(0,c.addHeader)(t.printableElement,t),t.printableElement.innerHTML+=function(e){var t=e.printable,n=e.properties,r='';e.repeatTableHeader&&(r+="");r+="";for(var o=0;o'+(0,c.capitalizePrint)(n[o].displayName)+"";r+="",e.repeatTableHeader&&(r+="");r+="";for(var i=0;i";for(var a=0;a'+l+""}r+=""}return r+="
"}(t),a.default.send(t,e)}}}]).default}); document.querySelector('.all-content-wrapper').setAttribute('id','printable'); ChangeListener('.lead_post_body_main .share-pinterest, .mobile_social_links .share-pinterest', function(el) { el.outerHTML=''; }); ChangeListener('.lead_post_body_main .share-print, .mobile_social_links .share-print', function(el) { el.addEventListener("click", function(){ if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Firefox") > 0) {window.print();}else{ printJS({printable: 'printable',type: 'html',targetStyles: ['*'],css: 'https://partners.rebelmouse.com/commondreams/print.css?s=0',style: ".custom-field-after-seconds,.custom-field-popup-bg-color,.custom-field-popup-text-color,.custom-field-location,.no-print { display: none !important; }"}); } }); }); }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ if (getCookie("popupShown") || (getCookie("hide_newsletter") != null && getCookie("hide_newsletter"))) { console.log("nothing to do"); return; } if(document.querySelector(".popup-modal .mb-2.popup--article #mc-embedded-subscribe") != null) { const popupform = document.querySelector(".popup-modal [name='mc-embedded-subscribe-form']"); popupform.addEventListener("submit", () => { setCookie("hide_newsletter", "true", 365); }); popupform.addEventListener("click", () => { setCookie("hide_newsletter", "true", 365); }); /*document.querySelector(".popup-modal .mb-2.popup--article #mc-embedded-subscribe").addEventListener("click", function(){ // Set the "hide_newsletter" cookie to "true" for 1 year (365 days) setCookie("hide_newsletter", "true", 365); });*/ } const popupBackdrop = document.querySelector(".popup--backdrop"); const closePopupButton = popupBackdrop.querySelector(".close-button"); const afterSecondsField = popupBackdrop.querySelector( ".custom-field-after-seconds" )?.textContent; const scrollingBeginsField = popupBackdrop.querySelector( ".custom-field-scrolling-begins" )?.textContent; const customFieldObj = document.querySelector(".popup--article .custom-field-visible-to-admin-only"); const customBGColor = popupBackdrop.querySelector('.custom-field-popup-bg-color').textContent const customTextColor = popupBackdrop.querySelector('.custom-field-popup-text-color').textContent popupBackdrop.style.setProperty('--background-color', `${customBGColor}`) popupBackdrop.style.setProperty('--text-color', `${customTextColor}`) const after_seconds = Number(afterSecondsField); const scrolling_begins = scrollingBeginsField === "True"; let lastScrollPosition = 0; let userHasInteracted = false; const scrollDeltaThreshold = 5; const showPopup = () => { console.log("---- showPopup ----") if (((customFieldObj != null && getCookie("userIsAdmin")) || customFieldObj == null) && !getCookie("popupShown") ){ popupBackdrop.classList.add("open"); setCookie("popupShown", true, 30); } }; const hidePopup = () => popupBackdrop.classList.remove("open"); closePopupButton.addEventListener("click", hidePopup); const userEvents = ["mousemove", "mousedown", "keydown", "touchstart"]; let userEventListenersRemoved = false; const userInteraction = () => { userHasInteracted = true; if (userEventListenersRemoved) return; userEvents.forEach((event) => { document.removeEventListener(event, userInteraction); userEventListenersRemoved = true; }); }; userEvents.forEach((event) => document.addEventListener(event, userInteraction) ); if (!scrolling_begins && !isNaN(after_seconds)) { setTimeout(showPopup, after_seconds * 1000); } else if (scrolling_begins) { document.addEventListener("scroll", debounce(handleScroll, 50)); } function handleScroll() { console.log("----handle Scroll----") if (scrolling_begins && !userHasInteracted) return; if (scrolling_begins) { const currentScrollPosition = window.scrollY || document.documentElement.scrollTop; const scrollDelta = Math.abs(currentScrollPosition - lastScrollPosition); if (scrollDelta > scrollDeltaThreshold) { setTimeout(showPopup, 0); document.removeEventListener("scroll", debounce(handleScroll, 50)); } lastScrollPosition = currentScrollPosition; } } function debounce(func, wait, immediate = false) { let timeout; return function (...args) { const context = this; const later = function () { timeout = null; if (!immediate) func.apply(context, args); }; const shouldCallNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout(timeout); timeout = setTimeout(later, wait); if (shouldCallNow) func.apply(context, args); }; } // to be implemented: cookies function setCookie(name, value, days) { let date = new Date(); date.setTime(date.getTime() + days * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000); let expires = "expires=" + date.toUTCString(); document.cookie = name + "=" + value + ";" + expires + ";path=/"; } function getCookie(cname) { let name = cname + "="; let decodedCookie = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie); let ca = decodedCookie.split(";"); for (let i = 0; i < ca.length; i++) { let c = ca[i]; while (c.charAt(0) == " ") { c = c.substring(1); } if (c.indexOf(name) == 0) { return c.substring(name.length, c.length); } } return ""; } }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ REBELMOUSE_STDLIB.createElementChangeListener('a[data-track-share="Twitter"]', function(twitterEle) { // Check if the element exists if (twitterEle) { // Extract the href attribute from the Twitter link const twitterHref = new URL(twitterEle.href); // Extract the `text` and `url` parameters from the Twitter link const text = twitterHref.searchParams.get("text") || ""; const url = twitterHref.searchParams.get("url") || ""; // Construct the Bluesky compose URL with text first, then the space-separated URL const blueskyHref = `https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=${encodeURIComponent(text)} ${encodeURIComponent(url)}`; // Update the href attribute of the Twitter link to the Bluesky URL twitterEle.href = blueskyHref; } }); }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ var newsletterr_heght = document.querySelector( ".body .newsletter-aside" ).clientHeight; var newsletterr_width = document.querySelector(".body").clientWidth; document.querySelector(".body").style.maxWidth = newsletterr_width + "px"; window.REBELMOUSE_STDLIB.onElementInViewport({ selector: ".body .newsletter-aside", threshold: -newsletterr_heght, oneTime: false, onIntersect: (entry) => { var element = entry.target; document.querySelector(".body .newsletter-aside").classList.add("higlight"); console.log("Intersection******************"); setTimeout(function() { document.querySelector(".body .newsletter-aside").classList.remove("higlight"); console.log("SetTimeout******************"); }, 2000); }, onBelowViewport: (element) => { document.querySelector(".body .newsletter-aside").classList.remove('higlight'); }, onAboveViewport: (element) => { document.querySelector(".body .newsletter-aside").classList.remove('higlight'); } }); }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ var test = 'sketchy-as-hell-at-t-paid-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-for-insights-as-fcc-worked-to-kill-net-neutrality'; if(test && test != '' && test != 'null' && test != null){ /* Creates comment icon */ const leftButtons = document.querySelector('.lead_post_share_social .posts-custom .widget__shares'); const facebookSpan = leftButtons.querySelector('.share-fb').parentElement; facebookSpan.insertAdjacentHTML('beforeend',''); /* Get Post data*/ fetch('https://commons.commondreams.org/t/sketchy-as-hell-at-t-paid-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-for-insights-as-fcc-worked-to-kill-net-neutrality/183737.json', { method: 'GET', headers: { 'Accept': 'application/json', }, }).then(response => response.json()) .then(response =>{ replyCount = response.posts_count - 1; document.querySelector('.comment_round_button .comment_count').textContent = replyCount; /* This line shows reply counter in Big Discourse Button:: */ /* document.querySelector('.discourse-btn .btn').textContent += ` (${replyCount})`; */ }); const commentsBtn = document.querySelector('.comment_round_button'); commentsBtn.addEventListener('click', function(ev){ window.open(commentsBtn.dataset.link, '_blank'); }); } /*document.querySelector(".share-plus.js-toggle").addEventListener("click", function(ele){ document.querySelector(".comment_round_button").classList.toggle("hide-button"); });*/ }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ REBELMOUSE_STDLIB.createElementChangeListener('.lead_post_tags_seo .social-author__name', function(el) { if(el.nextElementSibling && el.nextElementSibling.classList.contains('social-author__bio')) { el.nextElementSibling.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', '
Full Bio >
'); } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', '
Full Bio >
'); } }); }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ REBELMOUSE_STDLIB.createElementChangeListener(".newsletter-campaign .custom-field-source-text", function(button){ button.setAttribute('data-before', ''); button.innerHTML=''; }) }); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ /* Checking the position set with a post custom field, if it is not a default one (above) - change the position to custom */ const blockPlacement = () => { const newsletterBlock = document.querySelector('.js-newsletter-wrapper'); const placementPosition = document.querySelector('.custom-field-newsletter-position') ? document.querySelector('.custom-field-newsletter-position').innerText : false; if (!placementPosition) { return newsletterBlock.classList.remove('visually-hidden'); } const targetBlock = document.querySelector('.tab_wrap'); placementPosition === 'above' || placementPosition === '' ? false : targetBlock.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', newsletterBlock); return newsletterBlock.classList.remove('visually-hidden'); } blockPlacement(); });
OSZAR »