Government

Hiring Michael Cohen 'Was A Big Mistake'

Heads are rolling over the decision.

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(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

There is no other way to say it – AT&T hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake.

That’s the money line from an internal memo sent around by AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson as the telecom giant has gotten pulled into the legal saga of Michael Cohen after it was revealed the company paid Cohen $600,000 last year for “insights and understanding the new administration.” His mea culpa goes on:

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. In this instance, our Washington D.C. team’s vetting process clearly failed, and I take responsibility for that.

As a competent CEO, Stephenson takes ultimate responsibility for the hire, but it’s someone else’s head that is rolling. In the same memo, it is revealed that Bob Quinn, Senior Executive Vice President of the External & Legislative Affairs (read: lobbying) group, is retiring amid the scandal. Quinn, a former Mayer Brown attorney, was responsible for hiring Cohen.

As reported by the New York Law Journal, Quinn’s role at AT&T has changed throughout the years:

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Quinn, executive vice president for external affairs and legislative affairs, ran the regulatory shop for state and federal operations and oversaw legislative efforts across the country. Previously, he led AT&T’s work before the Federal Communications Commission as the company’s senior vice president for regulatory affairs. In his first role at AT&T, as a vice president in the federal regulatory affairs group, he represented AT&T before not only the FCC but the U.S. Justice Department.

Though as he noted, he was never a registered lobbyist for AT&T.

The lobbying group will, for now, report to General Counsel David McAtee. His top priority is righting the ship:

David’s number one priority is to ensure every one of the individuals and firms we use in the political arena are people who share our high standards and who we would be proud to have associated with AT&T.

Certainly not associating with anyone who describes themselves as a “fixer” will be a good start.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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