Dallas-based AT&T said it was contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team regarding its payments to the company of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.
In a statement released late Wednesday, the telecom giant said it “cooperated fully” with questions about its activities.
“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,” the company 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 is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
AT&T is one of the companies to find itself entangled in the Mueller investigation. It is under scrutiny after the revelation late Tuesday that it was one of several companies that made payments to Essential Consultants, the shell company used by Cohen to pay hush money to porn actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels.
A list of companies that paid Cohen became public after Michael Avenatti, the attorney for Clifford, posted a link to documents on Twitter. The companies also included Columbus Nova, a company with ties to a Russian oligarch; Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and South Korean defense company Korea Aerospace Industries.
AT&T admitted making the payments to Cohen in a statement Tuesday. In the statement, the telecom giant said it paid the consulting firm “to provide insights into understanding the new administration.” It declined to say how much it paid Cohen but said it began working with him in early 2017 and its contract ended in 2017.
AT&T may have paid Cohen’s company as much as $600,000 last year, according to information first reported by Reuters. A source told Reuters the company had a year-long contract with Cohen.
On Wednesday, AT&T sent an email to employees in response to news reports. “We want you to know the facts,” the company wrote.