时代周刊:“善后者”的神秘资金(3)（在线收听）

FOR A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR company, Essential Consultants has a light footprint.

对于一家资产数百万美元的公司来说，“必要咨询”留下的脚印似乎轻了些。

It has no website, no board and no employees.

它既没有网站，也没有董事会，甚至连员工也没有。

Cohen, the sole owner of the firm, legally established it in mid-October 2016,

科恩，该公司的唯一所有者，于2016年10月中旬通过合法途径成立了这家公司，

about a week after the Access Hollywood tape that captured Trump bragging about grabbing women’s genitals upended the presidential race.

距离《通往好莱坞》录像捕捉到特朗普吹嘘自己抓着女性生殖器这一事件将他的竞选搞得鸡飞狗跳才一周左右。

About 10 days later, Cohen allegedly used the company to make the $130,000 payment to Daniels, through her then lawyer Keith Davidson

该公司成立大约10天后，据传，科恩就利用该公司，经丹尼尔斯当时的律师基思·戴维森向她支付了13万美元的封口费，

in an effort to keep her from talking about the affair she says she had with Trump in 2006, shortly before the birth of Trump’s son Barron.

让她不要再传她曾在2006年，也就是特朗普的儿子巴伦出生前不久，和特朗普有过恋情这件事。

That was just the beginning.

然而，这还仅仅是个开始。

Cohen received or disbursed at least $4.4 million between late 2016 and into this year.

2016年末至今年期间，科恩在至少收到或支出了440万美元的资金。

Some of the largest payments to Essential Consultants came from companies

其中，“必要咨询”收到的几笔金额最大的资金

that appeared to have tangible financial interests pending before the U.S. government at the time.

都是从似有实实在在的经济利益摆在当时的政府面前的公司那里获得的。

In 2017, for example, AT&T stood to gain enormously if the Justice Department approved its proposed merger with Time Warner.

例如，2017年时，如果司法部批准了AT&T提出的与时代华纳合并的提案，AT&T就可能获得巨大的好处。

Avenatti contends that AT&T began a series of payments to Essential Consultants in October, which totaled $200,000 by January 2018.

阿文纳蒂声称，AT&T从去年10月开始到2018年1月，前后支付了“必要咨询”20万美元的资金。

In a May 8 statement, AT&T said it had hired Cohen “to provide insights into understanding the new Administration .”

在5月8日的一份声明中，AT&T表示，那些钱他们用在了聘请科恩“帮助他们了解新政府”上。

Another major payment to Cohen’s company arrived in November 2017 from Korea Aerospace Industries.

科恩公司收到的另外一笔大额款项是2017年11月韩国航空工业公司注入的。

The aircraft manufacturer is bidding for a multibillion-dollar contract to provide trainer jets for the Air Force, alongside American defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

目前，这家飞机制造商正在和美国国防承包商洛克希德·马丁公司一起竞标一份价值数十亿美元，为美国空军提供训练机的合同。

Korea Aerospace paid Essential Consultants $150,000 for what it says was advice on accounting standards on production costs—

韩国航空公司向“必要咨询”支付了15万美元，声称是为了请他提供生产成本的会计准则方面的建议——

an area of expertise that appears outside Cohen’s bailiwick.

这是一个并不在科恩能力范围之内的专业领域。

Swiss pharma giant Novartis also has a particular set of interests in the workings of the new U.S. Administration.

瑞士制药巨头“诺华”对美国新政府的运作也有着格外浓厚的兴趣。

In March 2017, a court ordered the company to turn over records

2017年3月，一家法院就曾下令该公司提交

related to a long-running federal investigation into alleged kickbacks and bribes paid to U.S. doctors.

与联邦政府长期以来一直在调查的，该公司涉嫌向美国医生支付回扣和贿赂的指控有关的各项文件。