Associated Press: Cohen’s ties to Trump, corporate clients pose questions

Associated Press: Cohen's ties to Trump, corporate clients pose questions

Paul S. Ryan of Common Cause said Cohen had plenty of wiggle room to help his corporate clients, which included AT&T and pharmaceutical giant Novartis, without running afoul of lobbying rules. Those rules, for instance, require that lobbyists register as such only if they've spent at least 20 percent of their time with a client over a three-month period doing lobbying work. "There is a whole lot of influence peddling that Michael Cohen could do without falling into the scope of federal lobby legislation," said Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at the good government group. He added, though: "It's slimy. It looks like an effort to personally profit from his relationship with the president, and hide it all from the public through a shell company."

Paul S. Ryan of Common Cause said Cohen had plenty of wiggle room to help his corporate clients, which included AT&T and pharmaceutical giant Novartis, without running afoul of lobbying rules. Those rules, for instance, require that lobbyists register as such only if they’ve spent at least 20 percent of their time with a client over a three-month period doing lobbying work.

“There is a whole lot of influence peddling that Michael Cohen could do without falling into the scope of federal lobby legislation,” said Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at the good government group. He added, though: “It’s slimy. It looks like an effort to personally profit from his relationship with the president, and hide it all from the public through a shell company.”