When Michael Cohen showed up at Novartis AG last year proposing to help the drugmaker navigate the Donald Trump administration, it sounded like a promising opportunity. Cohen had, after all, served as an attorney for Trump and had close ties to the new president.
It didn't take long for Novartis to conclude Cohen was full of hot air. And soon — but not soon enough — the company realized he was also a hot potato.
After the first meeting between Novartis officials and Cohen, in March 2017, "it was clear that he had oversold his abilities," said Joe Jimenez, the company's chief executive at the time.