Tag: Novartis

Komninos is not one of the 10 senior politicians under investigation, but his name does appear in one of the anonymous testimonies — obtained by POLITICO — where he is accused of accepting a bribe from Novartis in the form of “bundles of cash wrapped in orange tapes.” In an interview, he denied the allegation and said he worked to lower drug prices while in office. The testimonies, which were given under oath, contain several other similar tales of government officials receiving bribes in the form of bundles of cash. Novartis declined to comment on the allegations made in the anonymous Greek testimonies and the FBI report. We believe this is highly inappropriate and will defend our people and company against these claims.” The FBI declined to comment on its report and referred questions to the U.S. Embassy in Athens, which also declined to comment. Countersuits Maria Spyraki, a member of the European Parliament and spokesperson for the opposition New Democracy party, said that nothing in the documents released by Greek investigators so far provides hard evidence of any wrongdoing by senior politicians in Greece. “But the witnesses are not enough.” She added that the Greek parliament committee investigating Novartis had found no specific evidence incriminating any public official in Greece. In January, New Democracy also filed official questions to the minister of justice, Stavros Kontonis, asking him to explain how he plans to shelter the Greek judiciary from political influence amid allegations that those who have been accused are personalities that the ruling Syriza party would like to see tarnished. Stefanos Komninos, the former secretary-general of the ministry of economy, shipping and competitiveness, is accused in one witness statement of having kept the price of a box Galvus, a type 2 diabetes drug, at €300 instead of €150. A spokesperson for Touloupaki told POLITICO that her office is still conducting preliminary investigations into allegations that Novartis bribed public officials in Greece. Touloupaki’s office is also collaborating with anti-laundering officials in several EU countries to gather evidence of bribes being laundered out of the country, the two officials in Touloupaki’s office said.

The disclosure that Donald Trump’s legal fixer Michael Cohen was quietly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to advise corporations highlights the inability of US laws to prevent secretive “shadow lobbying”, analysts said. Sign up for the Guardian's US daily email Read more As Cohen said he provided consultancy services rather than lobbying, which involves directly advocating for a client to government officials, he was not required under US law to register as a lobbyist and disclose the payments in public filings. No allegation has been made relating to Cohen’s consultancy work. Professor James Thurber of American University, who has researched lobbying for decades, said it was too easy for influential people in Washington to make money around the legislative process without informing the public, in what is loosely termed shadow lobbying. But the company has confirmed it also paid Cohen’s company Essential Consultants for “insights into understanding the new administration” beginning in early 2017, when Trump was inaugurated. Trump’s administration was last year considering whether to allow an $85bn merger of AT&T and Time Warner. Paul Miller, president of the National Institute For Lobbying & Ethics, a lobbying trade group, said of this decline in numbers last year: “The simple reality is people are reclassifying what they do as not direct lobbying and thus they are no longer covered by the Lobbying Disclosure Act.” Two other companies that paid Cohen have in recent years decided against paying registered lobbyists to advocate for them in Washington. According to public filings, Columbus Nova has not done so since paying McGuireWoods $16,000 in 2010 to lobby on business regulations. Avenatti’s document said KAI, which is competing for a Pentagon contract, paid Cohen $150,000 in November last year. KAI has not used a registered lobbyist in Washington since paying American Defense International $20,000 in February 2002, according to congressional filings.

Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, is suggesting Michael Cohen was selling companies like Novartis and AT&T access to the president and the White House is remaining silent on the issue. The panel discusses. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC…