Michael Avenatti Mocks 'Doctor' Michael Cohen Consulting for Drugmaker Novartis
Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti mocked President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen as a "brilliant renaissance man" and "doctor" on Wednesday, following a pharmaceutical company's admission it made a payment to Cohen's consulting company.
Related: Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Michael Avenatti Says Pathetic' Trump and Michael Cohen Are in 'Panic Mode'
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, in a statement Wednesday, said it in February 2017 entered into a one-year agreement with Essential Consultants, a U.S. firm created by Cohen, "shortly after the election of President Trump, focused on U.S. healthcare policy matters."
"The terms were consistent with the market. The agreement expired in February 2018," the statement read. "Novartis cooperated fully with the Special Counsel's office and provided all the information requested. Novartis considers this matter closed as to itself and is not aware of any outstanding questions regarding the agreement."
Avenatti jumped on the development and tweeted, "Novartis claims they hired Mr. Cohen for 'healthcare' matters (they paid him approx $1 Million). Wow - he's a doctor as well!! Very talented guy this Mr. Cohen."
In a related tweet posted just prior to the one on Novartis, Avenatti pointed out other companies that reportedly made payments to Cohen, and ridiculed him for appearing to be an expert in various fields.
"Priceless = Watching all of the companies that sent money to the LLC slush fund come up with different alleged reasons for hiring Mr. Cohen – 'accounting advice,' 'real estate consulting,' 'insight,' etc.," Avenatti tweeted. "Who knew Mr. Cohen was such a brilliant renaissance man? #nonsense #basta."
Novartis' disclosure comes a day after Avenatti claimed an oligarch tied to Russia's President Vladimir Putin made a $500,000 payment to the same bank account that Cohen used to send a $130,000 sum to Daniels to cover up an alleged affair with Trump.
Cohen is under a criminal investigation on his business deals, including the hush payment to Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
