Posted on 05/13/2018 6:35:10 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
Hiring Michael Cohen was a “big mistake,” AT&T’s CEO told employees in an internal memo sent out Friday morning.
Randall Stephenson, the telecom giant’s top boss, characterized the unusual arrangement made with President Trump’s beleaguered personal lawyer as a “serious misjudgment,” but made sure to assure his workers that the deal was on the up-and-up.
“There is no other way to say it — AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake,” Stephenson wrote. “To be clear, everything we did was done according to the law and entirely legitimate. But the fact is, our past association with Cohen was a serious misjudgment.”
Reuters first obtained a copy of the apologetic memo, which also noted that the company’s top lobbyist is stepping down.
AT&T did not hire Cohen to lobby on behalf of the company, according to the memo.
The one-year contract at $50,000 per month was limited to consulting and advising on a variety of matters, including a pending merger with Time Warner.
“Our Washington D.C. team’s vetting process clearly failed” with the Cohen arrangement, “and I take responsibility for that ... My personal commitment to you is — we will do better,” Stephenson wrote.
Cohen’s consultation to AT&T was made public by Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Both companies have said that they were contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller regarding their work with Cohen.
Cohen’s office, home and hotel room were raided by FBI agents last month. Investigators seized business records, emails and other documents. That probe, being led by the Southern District of New York, is separate from Mueller’s investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at aol.com ...
>>Both companies have said that they were contacted by special counsel Robert Mueller regarding their work with Cohen.
How queer, Mr. Mueller. Did AT&T collude with the Russians to hand the 2016 election over to President Trump?
Or is this more fishing, shakedowns, and blacklisting?
“AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant.....”
Why does AT&T need a political consultant, at all? What in the world do they do that means anything politically. Just sell your phones, idgets.
rwood
Ok, I get it. Nothing wrong with hiring Cohen if you’re NOT Donald Trump, but RUSSIAN COLLUSION if you are Donald Trump.
Yep, that makes a lot of sense.
They gave half a million to Jesse Jackson’s Operation Push. Shakedown.
the only mistake on their part was getting caught doing what they all do: bribe, er, lobby the elected.
AT&T’s mistake was getting caught and looking like a deer in the head lights.
Did anyone at AT&T get fired?
Have all of the memos and emails related to this engagement been revealed for public inspection?
Will this topic be on the agenda at the next stockholders meeting?
Having AT&T as your ISP is a big mistake.
AT&T hired a consultant who didn't produce. That's not uncommon. It's especially not uncommon at the beginning of any new administration when the lobbying folks are looking for insights and contacts and people connected with the late campaign, but not going into government, try to cash in. Many people try their hand at the strategic consulting game. Many do not succeed. Overpromising and under-delivering is not uncommon. People hustling for clients sometimes bite off more than they can chew. It's a gamble that clients take regularly, whenever they hire a new consultant.
When these arrangements don't pan out, the thing to do is quietly part ways. Simply do not renew the contract. Or cancel it. Nothing ever needs to be said publicly. If there is some public controversy later, as in this case, the thing to say is, "We had a brief consulting arrangement with Mr. Cohen as part of our ongoing effort to understand the incoming Trump administration. That relationship ended in XXXX. Mr. Cohen's work for us was not related in any way to any of the controversies now under discussion." Period, end of story.
Michael Cohen is now being demonized. There is no reason for AT&T to pile on. It's a cheap shot.
Who are they kidding. They wanted to know the route to lobby. They expected do be dealing with the same ole Hillary folks. Not a big deal....and it was no mistake.
Since “the buck stops here”
The CYA must begin here
No do-overs.
AT&T’s CEO , the Devil made me do ,well The Democrats ,LOL
I don’t care how AT&T phrases it, if you hire someone who also works for the President for advice, then you are hiring a lobbyist. That Cohen thought he could serve the President AND sell his knowledge of the President is swamplike.
This is rich. Influence peddling.
The primary reasons most politicians want their job.
It’s the new (not really but it seems that way) path to wealth.
Selling favors.
What in the world do they do that means anything politically. Just sell your phones, idgets.
Take into account the “Net Neutrality” regulations, or the approval needed to just complete a merger.
The memo said AT&T made a "big mistake" by hiring Cohen, President Donald Trump's attorney, to get advice about the Trump administration's thinking.
Stephenson said AT&T's chief lobbyist, Bob Quinn, was retiring, though a source told The Wall Street Journal he was forced out.
AT&T is one of several companies that paid Cohen, along with the pharmaceutical giant Novartis and Korea Aerospace Industries.
I guess I didn’t do a good enough job saying my point. The government has little or no business delving into the areas you are talking about in your entry. As long as they are dabbling in business that has nothing to do with them, they are not the fix, but continuing, like Ron Reagan said, to be part of the problem. They are not there to regulate business as that’s why we have so many problems now.
So if they shouldn’t be there, why do the companies the size of AT%T need to delve back? Leave the, maybe, free market alone and it will prosper. Have the government regulate it and it will be hamstrung and fail. Many states in that situation are finding that out as they go bankrupt.
According to the latest ranking of states by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the most fiscally sound states in the nation are all low-tax, GOP strongholds, while the 10 least-solvent states are almost all high-tax and heavily Democratic. Dem states are controlled by high taxes and restricted actions. And that’s the problem.
rwood
Randall Stephenson is the current, volunteer President of the Boy Scouts of America. His 2-year term will conclude in 1-2 weeks when BSA gathers for its annual business meeting and votes for a successor. Stephenson was an officer on BSA’s National Executive Committee back in 2013 when he heavily supported BSA Past-President Rex Tillerson’s move to normalize homosexuality in the BSA. During Stephenson’s watch as BSA President, BSA changed its membership rules to allow (1) transgender children to join, (2) all-girl Cub Scout packs and Boy Scout troops, (3) and watched the Mormon LDS church dissolve its 105 year association with the BSA.
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