The Chattanooga developer seeking to purchase Bellefonte Nuclear Plant and bring the dormant Alabama facility online sought help from President Trump's embattled former personal attorney to land a $5 billion federal loan.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Franklin Haney - the leader of Nuclear Development LLC - agreed to pay Michael Cohen $10 million if he helped secure funding for the plant.

Cohen is under federal investigation by prosecutors in New York and has suggested he may be willing to testify against Trump in the special prosecutor's probe into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

Haney is seeking $5 billion in loans from the U.S. Department of Energy for the Bellefonte project in Jackson County, according to a May 23 announcement by U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, whose district includes the plant.

Brooks said at the time he sent a letter to Trump in support of the loan. Alabama Congressmen Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne and Martha Roby and Tennessee Congressman Chuck Fleischman also signed the letter.

At a community event on Monday, Brooks and former Congressman Bud Cramer - now a Washington lobbyist working to help Nuclear Development navigate through the process of bringing the plant to production - said funding for the project was in the "final stages."

Nuclear Development, which submitted the winning bid of $111 million to buy Bellefonte from TVA at auction in November 2016, has until November 2018 to complete the sale. That process is on track as well, according to TVA and Nuclear Development.

The Wall Street Journal said Haney gave the contract to Cohen in early April to secure funding for Bellefonte.

According to the Journal, "Authorities are investigating whether Cohen engaged in unregistered lobbying in connection with his consulting work for corporate clients after Trump went to the White House, according to people familiar with the probe."

An attorney for Haney, Larry Blust, said Haney never entered into an agreement with Cohen.

"Neither Mr. Haney nor Nuclear Development LLC ever entered into a contract with Michael Cohen or his affiliate for lobbying services related to the Bellefonte project," Blust told the Journal. The newspaper said Blust declined further comment.

Haney, described by the Journal as a "major donor" to Trump's campaign, has tossed money around in Alabama politics as well. In 2014, he donated about $300,000 to Gov. Robert Bentley's re-election campaign - making him one of Bentley's largest contributors.

AL.com has reported that Bentley later lobbied TVA to sell Bellefonte.

After Trump's victory in 2016, Haney donated $1 million to the president's inaugural fund. Bloomberg reported that Haney bragged about frequently dining with the president and Haney is a member of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in south Florida.

Haney also donated $129,000 to Birmingham city council members in 2013 in an effort to win their favor to purchase a building in the city.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen never contacted Rick Perry, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, citing a statement from the department. The Journal said that, according to an source who was not named in the story, Cohen made several calls to the energy department to inquire about the loan guarantee process.

According to the Journal, "Cohen's work for Haney included participating in an April 5 meeting during which he helped the donor pitch the vice chairman of the Qatar Investment Authority, Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani, on a possible investment in the nuclear plant." The newspaper cited its source of the meeting to people familiar with the matter.

The newspaper also said Cohen spent a night on Haney's yacht near Miami, where the meeting occurred.

There is no indication that the Qataris have decided to invest with Haney, the Journal said.

Updated today, Aug. 2, 2018, at 5:50 p.m. with new information throughout.