Swamp Things: Ford Says “Thanks, but No Thanks” to Offer of Consulting Services From Trump Fixer

Donald Trump has spent his adult life surrounded by sketchy characters. He employed them, associated with them, and by every account, was one of them.

But he’s the president now, and this is getting ridiculous.

If you needed an example, one such sketchy character would be his longtime personal attorney and “fixer,” Michael Cohen.

Cohen was the subject of a raid on his home and office in early April, in search of financial records, relating to the payoff of Trump’s former mistress, porn star Stormy Daniels (real name: Stephanie Clifford).

Cohen set up a limited liability company called Essential Consultants, in order to transfer $130,000 to Daniels’ account in October 2016.

Since Cohen found himself in the harsh glare of an investigatory spotlight, it’s like federal authorities took a good whack at a piñata, and all his shady dealings came tumbling out.

In the latest news, it would appear that after the election of his client, Cohen fashioned himself as a lobbyist, reaching out to corporations, with promises of access to the new president.

Some of those corporations, like Novartis, a pharmaceutical company based out of Switzerland, paid for absolutely nothing at all.

The line used was that after meeting with Cohen, they found there was nothing he could do for them, but that they were locked into a contract, so he was still to receive his $1.3 million payment.

AT&T paid Essential Consulting $600,000 for consulting on various issues, but most notably, the possible merger with Time-Warner.

All the publicity must have rubbed the company the wrong way and they admitted to a “big mistake.”

“Our company has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons these last few days, and our reputation has been damaged,” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson wrote. “Our Washington D.C., team’s vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that.”

They mentioned on Wednesday that Robert Mueller’s team had reached out to them and that they were in full cooperation.

It didn’t stop with Novartis and AT&T. Apparently, Cohen reached out to Ford Motor Company, with an offer to provide consulting work, as well.

Cohen reached out to Ford’s Washington, D.C. office in January 2017 and highlighted his relationship with Trump in a short phone call with Ford’s head of government affairs, Ziad Ojakli, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The invitation was denied, and there were no additional conversations about the issue, sources familiar with the situation said.

Let me just give kudos to the Ford Company for wisely avoiding this snake oil salesman.

This particular encounter also did not escape the long gaze of Mueller’s team. He requested all the pertinent emails and records associated with Cohen’s offer.

Was there anything illegal about presenting himself as a lobbyist?

No, not really. At this point in time, we expect there to be lobbyists in Washington. It’s just the normal course of business, whether we like it, or not.

That being said, this wasn’t just Michael Cohen playing lobbyist. His long relationship with the president and the nature of their association could prove troublesome.

As one Trump associate said of Cohen: He knows where all the bodies are buried.

That’s the kind of incestuous Washington entanglement that grows the swamp. It certainly doesn’t drain it.