AT&T $600K Deal With Michael Cohen Specified He Would Advise on Time Warner Merger (Report)

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AT&T paid President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen specifically to advise the telecom company on its proposed $85.4 billion merger with Time Warner, according to a report by the Washington Post, citing internal documents obtained by the newspaper.

The report states that Cohen’s $600,000 deal with AT&T detailed the nature of the work he was to provide to the company, including focusing on specific long-term planning initiatives and immediate issues regarding corporate tax reform and the Time Warner acquisition.

Representatives for AT&T did not immediately return requests for comment, nor did Michael Cohen’s lawyer Stephen Ryan.

A spokeswoman for AT&T told TheWrap in a statement that: “Essential Consultants was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017.”

Also Read: AT&T Says $200K Paid to Michael Cohen's Firm Was for 'Insights' Into Trump Administration

The DoJ filed its lawsuit against AT&T in November 2017.

The Post reported that the documents, which were signed by two AT&T executives in the company’s public affairs office in Washington, specifically dictate that Cohen was not to spend his time lobbying for the company.

AT&T’s proposed merger with Time Warner is still awaiting regulatory approval, following the government’s attempt to block the merger due to antitrust concerns.

President Trump made clear during the campaign in 2016, when the AT&T-Time Warner deal was announced, that he would block the merger.

Also Read: DOJ Argues AT&T Should Sell DirecTV or Turner if Time Warner Deal Goes Through

The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against AT&T is currently pending a decision from D.C. District Judge Richard Leon, which is expected to come on June 12. There’s no indication right now whether AT&T’s link to Cohen will have any bearing on the antitrust lawsuit.

A representative for the DoJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did representatives for Judge Leon.

The company’s dealings with Cohen, and a host of other companies, was brought to light earlier this week by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels. Avenatti tweeted out what he called a “preliminary report” on Cohen’s shell company, Essential Consultants, which showed it also received payments from drug pharmaceutical giant Novartis and a prominent Russian oligarch with ties to President Vladimir Putin.

Essential Consultants, created by Cohen in October 2016, was the same company used to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an affair she says she had with Donald Trump several years earlier. Trump has consistently denied the affair.

10 Biggest Billion-Dollar Entertainment Deals in 2016 (Photos)

Media and entertainment dealmakers returned in full force this year after a quiet 2015, as there were nine mergers and acquisitions valued at more than $1 billion -- from Chinese buyers such as the Dalian Wanda Group to AT&T, which agreed to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion. Here's a rundown of the biggest.
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10. Disney buys a minority stake in BAMTech

Price tag: $1 billion

In August, the Mouse House announced that it paid $1 billion for a 33 percent stake in streaming video technology company BAMTech, which was spun off from Major League Baseball’s MLB Advanced Media. Disney plans to use BAMTech’s technology to launch a standalone ESPN streaming service – but without the same content as linear ESPN.
Disney
9. Dalian Wanda Group buys Dick Clark Productions

Price tag: $1 billion

The real estate and entertainment conglomerate owned by China’s richest man continues to snap up showbiz companies by the billion, acquiring the Golden Globes and American Music Awards producer for a cool $1 billion earlier this month.
Dick Clark Productions
8. Rovi acquires TiVo

Price tag: $1.1 billion

Video technology firm Rovi Corp., bought the pioneering live-TV recording tech company for $1.1 billion in a deal that was finalized in September. After the deal was complete, Rovi adopted the better-known TiVo name.
Getty Images
7. AMC Theatres buys Carmike Cinemas

Price tag: $1.2 billion

Wanda-owned AMC Theatres acquired Carmike, the U.S.’ fourth-largest exhibitor, forming the biggest theater chain in the country with more than 600 theaters. That surpasses Regal Entertainment, which operates 565 locations.
AMC/Carmike
6. AMC Theatres buys Odeon & UCI Cinemas

Price tag: $1.2 billion

AMC also added Odeon & UCI Cinemas, Europe's biggest chain, to its ever-expanding suite of cinemas. AMC will rename the company to Odeon Cinemas Group and maintain its London headquarters.
AMC/Odeon & UCI
5. Dalian Wanda Group buys Legendary Entertainment

Price tag: $3.5 billion

Wanda was responsible for the first megadeal of 2016, when it acquired the “Jurassic World” production company for $3.5 billion. Legendary lost $500 million in 2015, but its action-packed fare such as “Warcraft” is popular in China’s fast-growing movie market.
Legendary/Wanda
4. Comcast's NBCUniversal buys DreamWorks

Price tag: $3.8 billion

The blowout success of animated films like “Zootopia” and “Finding Dory” was one of the stories of 2016, and NBCU doubled down on the genre by adding the “Kung Fu Panda” and “Shrek” studio to its fold.
DreamWorks
3. Lionsgate merges with Starz

Price tag: $4.4 billion

The “Hunger Games” studio and premium cable channel announced their merger plans in June, a year after telecom billionaire and major Starz shareholder John Malone bought a stake in Lionsgate. Starz will become an independently run subsidiary of Lionsgate once the deal is officially approved.
Lionsgate/Starz
2. Verizon buys Yahoo

Price tag: $4.8 billion – or maybe less

The embattled Internet 1.0 company finally found its lifeboat, selling its core business to Verizon for $4.8 billion in July, eight years after rejecting a $45 billion bid from Microsoft. But after the extent of Yahoo’s 2014 hack was revealed, Verizon was pushing for a $1 billion discount, and has been taking a second look at the deal.
Verizon/Yahoo
1. AT&T agrees to acquire Time Warner

Price tag: $85.4 billion

AT&T agreed to buy Time Warner, combining two century-old companies to create a content and distribution powerhouse in the biggest media deal since the ill-fated 2000 AOL-Time Warner merger. One caveat: Donald Trump, who has been an outspoken critic of Time Warner’s CNN, had threatened to block the deal. However, a Wall Street-friendly Republican Congress could provide a smoother path.
AT&T/Time Warner

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Rewind 2016: From China’s Dalian Wanda Group to AT&T, deep-pocketed buyers were chasing content all year

Media and entertainment dealmakers returned in full force this year after a quiet 2015, as there were nine mergers and acquisitions valued at more than $1 billion -- from Chinese buyers such as the Dalian Wanda Group to AT&T, which agreed to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion. Here's a rundown of the biggest.

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