A company that paid Michael Cohen $500,000 says it is not controlled by a Russian oligarch. An archived version of that Russian’s website indicates otherwise.
On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, revealed that a company called Columbus Nova LLC had paid about $500,000 to Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s longtime attorney and “fixer.” According to Avenatti, this is notable because Columbus Nova is “controlled by” Viktor Vekselberg “a Russian oligarch with an estimated net worth of nearly $13 billion.” Like all Russian oligarchs, Vekselberg has close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
This payment was one among many that passed through Cohen. Since late 2016, more than $4 million has flowed through Essential Consultants, a shell company that Cohen created to funnel $130,000 to Avenatti’s client, Stormy Daniels.
But since the story broke on Tuesday evening, Columbus Nova has been aggressively pushing back on the Vekselberg connection. In a statement issued through their law firm, the company claimed that it is “solely owned and controlled by Americans.” The company denied Vekselberg or any foreign entity controls its activities, including the decision to pay Cohen.
https://thinkprogress.org/this-is-the-website-the-russian-linked-company-who-paid-michael-cohen-500k-didnt-want-you-to-see-93c5f39eeb66/
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