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AT&T paid Cohen $600K to advise on Time Warner merger

Michael Cohen, longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

AT&T reportedly paid President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, $600,000 to advise on pending government issues, including its proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner, the Washington Post reports.

The details: AT&T reportedly turned to Cohen for assistance three days after President Trump took office. The Justice Department sued the company last November in an effort to block the merger. An AT&T spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request to comment about the deal with Cohen. [Go deeper: Corporate America paid Cohen millions, left with nothing.]

Go deeper

Ursula Perano
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Dominion sends cease and desist letter to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell

Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Dominion Voting Systems on Monday sent a cease and desist letter to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell over his spread of misinformation related to the 2020 election.

Why it matters: Trump and several of his allies have pushed false conspiracy theories about the company, leading Dominion to take legal action. It's suing pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for defamation and $1.3 billion in damages, and a Dominion employee has sued Trump himself, OANN and Newsmax.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Jonathan Swan
4 hours ago - Politics & Policy
Off the Rails

Episode 5: The secret CIA plan

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer, Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. This Axios series takes you inside the collapse of a president.

Episode 5: Trump vs. Gina — The president becomes increasingly rash and devises a plan to tamper with the nation's intelligence command.

In his final weeks in office, after losing the election to Joe Biden, President Donald Trump embarked on a vengeful exit strategy that included a hasty and ill-thought-out plan to jam up CIA Director Gina Haspel by firing her top deputy and replacing him with a protege of Republican Congressman Devin Nunes.

Go deeper (5 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Health: CDC director defends agency's response to pandemic — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Empire State Building among hundreds to light up in Biden inauguration coronavirus tribute.
  3. Vaccine: Fauci: 100 million doses in 100 days is "absolutely" doable.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again.
  5. Tech: Kids' screen time sees a big increase.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow