Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has conducted interviews with Blackwater founder Erik Prince, pharmaceutical giant Novartis, and AT&T, the last two in connection with payments made to Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
In November, lawyers from Mueller’s office asked for information about the company’s relationship with Essential Consultants, a shell company created by Cohen.
“Novartis cooperated fully with the Special Counsel’s office and provided all the information requested,” Novartis spokeswoman Sofina Mirza-Reid said in a statement. “Novartis considers this matter closed as to itself and is not aware of any outstanding questions regarding the agreement.”
The acknowledgment by Novartis suggests that Cohen has been drawn into the special counsel’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign.
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Novartis entered into a $100,000-a-month agreement with Essential Consultants in February 2017, shortly after Trump’s inauguration. On Wednesday afternoon, the company gave a more detailed description of its relationship with Cohen, saying he ultimately proved a disappointment.
“Novartis believed that Michael Cohen could advise the company as to how the Trump administration might approach certain US healthcare policy matters, including the Affordable Care Act,” Mirza-Reid said. “In March 2017, Novartis had its first meeting with Michael Cohen under this agreement. Following this initial meeting, Novartis determined that Michael Cohen and Essential Consultants would be unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated related to US healthcare policy matters and the decision was taken not to engage further.
"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," she said.
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AT&T heard from Mueller at about the same time [investigators contacted Novartis], according to company spokesman Michael Balmoris.
“When we were contacted by the Special Counsel’s office regarding Michael Cohen, we cooperated fully, providing all information requested in November and December of 2017,” Balmoris said in a written statement. “A few weeks later, our consulting contract with Cohen expired at the end of the year. Since then, we have received no additional questions from the Special Counsel’s office and consider the matter closed.”
Mueller's team also has interviewed Erik Prince, but "[i]t was not immediately clear what questions Mueller’s team had or what information Prince shared with the special counsel."
Prince attended a now-controversial meeting with the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund in the Seychelles Islands on Jan. 11, 2017—just over a week before Inauguration Day. The Washington Post reported that Mueller is interested in potential efforts at the Seychelles meeting to set up a backchannel between the Trump administration and the Kremlin.
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Reached for comment, Prince spokesperson Marc Cohen did not dispute this reporting.
“Erik gave a full and frank public account of events as they concern him to the intelligence committee and he has nothing else to add on this topic,” Cohen said.
As Cohen noted, this isn’t the first time Prince has faced questions related to potential coordination between President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin. On Nov. 30, 2017, he spoke at length with the House intelligence committee about the campaign ...
Evidence suggests Prince lied to Congress about his meeting in the Seychelles.
Prince is well-connected in Trump World. He donated $250,000 to pro-Trump efforts during the campaign, and his sister, Betsy DeVos, is Trump’s education secretary. Prince pushed hard—and unsuccessfully—for the administration to change its Afghanistan War strategy to rely on military contracting companies—the kind of firms that have made him a fortune. Prince is also close with former White House advisor Steve Bannon and has made numerous appearances on Breitbart’s radio show.
Mueller team questioned Novartis and AT&T over Michael Cohen payments (Politico)
Special Counsel Mueller’s Team Questioned Blackwater Founder Erik Prince (Daily Beast)