Trump's ex-lawyer Cohen: drugmaker Novartis wanted him to lobby, but he declined

U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen testified on Wednesday that drugmaker Novartis AG initially wanted him to lobby for the company when it retained him with a $1.2 million contract, but that Cohen refused.

"Novartis sent me their contract, which stated specifically that they wanted me to lobby. That they wanted me to provide access to government, including the president."

"That paragraph was crossed out by me, initialed, and written in my own handwriting that says I will not lobby or do government relations work," he told members of the House Oversight Committee. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Doina Chiacu; editing by Jonathan Oatis)