Shortly after AT&T apologized for the “big mistake” it made in hiring President Donald Trump‘s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, the telecommunications giant released a document articulating its relationship with the president’s fixer.
The memo, which was obtained by CNBC, says AT&T hired Cohen, who is known for his close ties to Trump, as a political consultant and advisor on the president, and did not permit him to lobby for the company.
“We didn’t ask him to set up any meeting for us with anyone in the Administration and he didn’t offer to do so,” AT&T says.
Read the memo describing “facts around AT&T & Michael Cohen” below:
In early 2017, as President Trump was taking office, AT&T hired several consultants to help us understand how the President and his administration might approach a wide range of policy issues important to the company, including regulatory reform at the FCC, tax reform, and antitrust enforcement, specifically our Time Warner deal. Companies often hire political consultants, especially at the beginning of a new presidential administration, and we have done so in previous administrations.
Michael Cohen approached our External Affairs organization during the post-election transition period and said he was going to leave the Trump Organization and do consulting for a select few companies that wanted his opinion on the new President and his administration – the key players, their priorities, and how they think.
Our Washington DC team hired Cohen for just that purpose, under a one-year contract at $50,000 per month, from January through December 2017. Our contract with Cohen was expressly limited to providing consulting and advisory services, and it did not permit him to lobby on our behalf without first notifying us (which never occurred). We didn’t ask him to set up any meeting for us with anyone in the Administration and he didn’t offer to do so.
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. Since then, we have received no additional questions from the Special Counsel’s office and have considered the matter closed.
Read Randall Stephenson’s initial memo explaining AT&T’s “big mistake” here.
