LEGAL/MICHAEL COHEN/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “A company created by Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, received $500,000 in 2017 from an investment fund linked to a Russian oligarch, according to a person familiar with the matter. Separately, AT&T Inc. said it made payments to Mr. Cohen’s company in 2017 for ‘insights’ into the administration at a time when the telecommunications giant needed government approval for an $85 billion takeover of Time Warner Inc. The payments were made to Essential Consultants LLC, a company Mr. Cohen established in Delaware that he also used in October 2016 to make a $130,000 payment to former adult-film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, who had alleged she had a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006. Messrs. Trump and Cohen deny the encounter. The payments were revealed in a memo released through Twitter by Michael Avenatti, a lawyer for Ms. Clifford.”
-Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Drew FitzGerald, Michael Rothfeld and Rebecca Ballhaus, “Trump Lawyer Received $500,000 From Firm Linked to Russian Oligarch,” The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2018 10:05pm