Michael Cohen was paid $1.2 million for a single meeting and Robert Mueller’s team had questions

Novartis pharmaceutical corporation said it enlisted Trump attorney's help but quickly learned he was 'unable to provide the services' it sought

Michael Cohen leaves the US courthouse in New York ( HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images)

Pharmaceutical corporation Novartis said it paid $1.2m to Donald Trump’s embattled attorney Michael Cohen for a single, fruitless meeting - a transaction that has drawn the attention of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.

The Swiss-headquartered company acknowledged the transaction in response to bombshell allegations about Mr Cohen’s financial history levelled by Michael Avenatti, an attorney who is representing adult film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Mr Trump and Mr Cohen.

A document released by Mr Avenatti alleged that Mr Cohen engaged in some $4.4m (£3.2m) worth of “suspicious financial transactions”, among them payments from Novartis to Mr Cohen’s firm Essential Consultants.

Novartis said in a statement that it enlisted Mr Cohen’s services in February of 2017 to help illuminate how the “Trump administration might approach certain US healthcare policy matters”. The company moved to sever the relationship after it emerged that Mr Cohen was “unable to provide the services that Novartis had anticipated”, but Novartis was still on the hook for a one-year contract that paid $100,000 (£74,000) a month.

“As the contract unfortunately could only be terminated for cause, payments continued to be made until the contract expired by its own terms in February 2018”, Novartis said.

The company also acknowledged that Mr Mueller’s office reached out to learn more about the transactions with Essential Consultants. Mr Mueller’s investigation is probing Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election and contacts with the Trump presidential campaign.

In the document scrutinising Mr Cohen’s financial history, Mr Avenatti sought to link the longtime Trump associate to Russia. He alleged that Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg routed some $500,000 (£369,000) to Mr Cohen in early 2017, when “significant questions were being raised” about Russia’s actions. The Treasury Department has imposed economic sanctions on Mr Vekselberg and his Renova Group as part of a crackdown on Russian entities intended to punish the country for its interference in other democracies.

A request for comment to Mr Cohen’s attorney was not returned.

As Novartis was working to explain its relationship with Mr Cohen, US officials were examining where the information on his financial history came from. The Treasury Department’s inspector general confirmed it had opened an inquiry into whether financial information was “improperly disseminated”, reacting to a New York Times story that tracked with Mr Avenatti’s allegations.

Mr Avenatti declined to reveal the source of his dossier in an interview with Washington Post, saying it was “nobody’s business”. But he argued the Treasury Department should release suspicious activity reports that he said flagged Essential Consulting’s bank account.

“This deserves immediate attention”, Mr Avenatti said on Twitter.

Federal investigators have already opened a criminal investigation into Mr Cohen, according to court documents. FBI agents raided his home and office last month, reportedly acting in part on a referral from Mr Mueller’s team to prosecutors.

They seized information related to a $130,000 (£96,000) payment to Ms Daniels in the runup to the presidential election, which Mr Cohen has acknowledged having facilitated.

Mr Avenatti and his client Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, have called the payment hush money intended to prevent Ms Daniels from speaking out about an alleged affair with Mr Trump. The lawsuit seeks to release her from a nondisclosure agreement, saying the document is invalid because Mr Trump did not sign it.

The president has denied that an affair with Ms Daniels occurred. But after having denied knowledge of Mr Cohen’s transaction with the adult film star, Mr Trump admitted earlier this month to being aware of the deal and reimbursing Mr Cohen.