Soon afterwards, Viktor Vekselberg - a Russian oligarch with links to Russian President Vladimir Putin - "caused substantial funds to be deposited into the bank account, from which Cohen made the payment" to Daniels, Avenatti said.
It wasn't the only surprise. AT&T and Novartis AG also appeared in Avenatti's report, and AT&T confirmed that it had made payments to Cohen's company.
A lawyer for Cohen said he wouldn't discuss the US$500,000 from Vekselberg, according to a tweet posted by a reporter. "I understand the shorthand you're using, but it wasn't a payment," the lawyer, Steve Ryan, told Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has questioned Vekselberg about the payments into Cohen's account, CNN reported today.
Attempts were unsuccessful to reach Columbus Nova, the US investment vehicle for Vekselberg's Renova Group that Avenatti says made the payment. First Republic declined to comment.
Reached by telephone half an hour after Avenatti posted the information, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he doubted the report's veracity.
"I have no idea how he would know that. I have no reason to believe that anything he says is true," Giuliani said. "I consider him now sort of a guy who books for Saturday Night Live. The guy is a pretty unsuccessful lawyer - can't remember a case he's ever had that meant anything - and I think he's desperate for money."
Avenatti disclosed his information on Twitter without warning. "Mr Trump and Mr Cohen have a lot of explaining to do," he wrote.
It's unclear whether Avenatti obtained bank information as part of litigation involving Trump, Cohen and Clifford over the non-disclosure agreement Cohen negotiated.
Separately, federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the payment and Cohen's broader business practices.
Avenatti named three companies, besides Columbus Nova, that he said transferred money into the account at First Republic. In January this year, he said, Cohen used the account for what Avenatti called suspicious transactions totalling US$4.43 million. The other companies were Novartis, AT&T and Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd.
The account belonged to Essential Solutions, a Delaware LLC that was established by Cohen and has been previously identified as the source of the hush payment to Clifford.
According to Avenatti, Novartis made four payments of US$99,980 into the account last last year and in early 2018. After the payments, totalling just under US$400,000, Trump had a dinner meeting with Novartis' incoming CEO ahead of a World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Avenatti said.
A Novartis spokesman said he was looking into the issue.
Avenatti cited four payments from AT&T of US$50,000 apiece, in late 2017, without further explanation. AT&T announced just before the election that it would merge with Time Warner. Trump regularly criticised Time Warner's CNN on the campaign trail and said threatened to derail any merger.
"Essential Consulting was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration. They did no legal or lobbying work for us, and the contract ended in December 2017," AT&T said.
Around that time, the Justice Department sued to block the merger. After a six-week trial, a judge is now weighing whether to approve the deal or block it.
Separately, Avenatti cited a single payment of US$150,000 from Korea Aerospace. Representatives for the company couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Although Avenatti didn't offer an explanation for all the payments or the intended purposes of the funds, he also drew attention to what appeared to be Cohen's personal accounts.
The longtime Trump lawyer opened two accounts at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and deposited three checks totalling just over US$1 million from the Essential Consulting account, Avenatti said.
Avenatti said the transactions last summer appeared to have no "legitimate business purpose". Cohen has noted in court that Trump was one of three legal clients he had last year, but that he had 10 other clients for whom he did unspecified business work.
Last month, the Trump Administration imposed sanctions on Russians, including Vekselberg and his Renova Group, that were intended to punish Russia for actions in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria, and for attempts to subvert Western democracies.
Vekselberg, who founded Renova in 1990 and accumulated interests in Russia's oil, gas and aluminum industries, is Russia's fifth-richest person with a net worth of US$15.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- Bloomberg
