LEGAL/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “An attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels said on Wednesday [5-9-18] he has more evidence of ties between a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the United States and a payment to U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and questioned other companies’ dealings with Cohen’s firm. In two television interviews, Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, also called on Trump and Cohen to release bank statements tied to hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments made by AT&T, Novartis AG, Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd and Columbus Nova LLC, a New York-based investment firm linked to businessman Viktor Vekselberg, who has ties to the Kremlin. Avenatti’s comments came a day after he disclosed the payments to a firm controlled by Cohen in 2017 and 2018, after Trump won the November 2016 presidential election. The companies later confirmed the payments. The revelation of the payments raised new questions about Cohen’s role and work for Trump, and could further pressure Cohen after the FBI raided his home and office last month as part of a criminal investigation of his business dealings and a payment to Daniels.”
-Reuters, “Stormy Daniels’ lawyer questions dealings as companies defend Trump attorney payments,” Reuters, May 9, 2018