Trump calls media 'corrupt'? Look who's talking
The Times found at least $4.4 million flowed into the coffers of Essential Consulting, including more than $1 million from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and several corporations -- including AT&T, pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG and Korean Aerospace Industries -- with business before the Trump administration, according to documents and interviews.
As soon as Trump won his unexpected victory, Cohen began working the phones, according to reports, looking for deep-pocket corporations and others with a high-dollar interest in navigating the new administration.
He showed photos of himself with Trump, according to news accounts, boasted about how often they spoke and even encouraged people to share news stories that called him the president's "fixer," since he probably didn't feel comfortable putting it on his resume.
Cohen has been in hot water for a number of reasons. The FBI raided his home seeking details of his business dealings and the source of his payment to persuade Stormy Daniels to hush up about her past relations with Trump.
Cohen also seemed to view his old boss's rise to the White House as a big ATM for his own profit.
The big question of how much Trump might have known about his longtime friend's side business, if at all, has yet to be answered. But as various investigations move closer to the president, it's clear this administration needs more scrutiny from a vigilant press, not less, regardless of how much Team Trump dislikes our nosiness.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
(c) 2018 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
