Drug manufacturer Novartis paid President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen $1.2 million for healthcare policy lobbying services that Mr. Cohen was unable to deliver, according to CNBC.
Mr. Cohen founded Essentials Consultants in October 2016 and reached out to Novartis in February 2017, promising senior officials access to President Trump if they contracted with his company. Novartis and Essentials agreed to a $100,000 per month contract for one year.
Novartis officials met with Mr. Cohen one month after signing the deal and "determined that Michael Cohen and Essentials Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated," according to a statement from Novartis.
"As the contract unfortunately could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018," Novartis wrote in their statement.
Novartis was contacted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office in November 2017 regarding their engagement with Mr. Cohen, who is under criminal investigation for his business practices. The company provided all information requested and now "considers this matter closed as to itself and is not aware of any outstanding questions regarding the agreement."