Swiss prosecutors will not pursue Novartis over Trump lawyer payments

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss attorney general's office (OAG) said on Wednesday it will not bring proceedings against Novartis in connection with $1.2 million in payments the Swiss drugmaker made to U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer.

The OAG had received a criminal complaint alleging bribery of foreign public officials by Novartis, which has said it struck a year-long contract with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 to gain insights into the administration's thinking on healthcare issues. Novartis has since called the pact a mistake.

"Following a detailed analysis, the OAG concluded that there was insufficient suspicion to justify opening criminal proceedings," the attorney general's office said in an email. "There was neither sufficient suspicion that the payments were made to a foreign public official nor that there was any link between the payments and any official act."

(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)