Article snippet: Rudy Giuliani told The Hill on Thursday that the media ought to “calm down” in their coverage of money paid to Michael Cohen, MORE's longtime personal attorney. The former New York City mayor and recent addition to Trump's legal team said of the allegations swirling around Cohen, “It doesn’t involve us at all. There is no suggestion that it does.” Asked directly if Trump had any awareness of Cohen allegedly selling access to him or his administration, Giuliani replied, “No, of course not.” Cohen has been in the middle of a firestorm since Tuesday, when Michael Avenatti — the attorney for adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006 — published a document purportedly outlining payments to Cohen. Those payments came from an investment firm connected with a Russian oligarch, as well as from major corporations, including drug company Novartis and AT&T. The broad thrust of Avenatti’s claims was verified by several news organizations and in statements from some of the companies. Novartis, for example, acknowledged paying $1.2 million to Cohen’s company, Essential Consultants LLC. In an email to employees on Thursday, Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan wrote, “We made a mistake entering into this engagement.” Adding to the intrigue, the payments were made to the same shell company, Essential Consulting LLC, that Cohen used to make a $130,000 payment to Daniels. Cohen denies any wrongdoing. Since the allegations came to light... Link to the full article to read more