President Donald Trump has criticised his former personal lawyer, Alina Habba Mildon, over a reported deal worth more than $50 million with a company linked to the family of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini. According to The New York Times, the agreement guaranteed Habba more than $50 million over four years, including bonuses. The controversy has attracted attention because Trump pardoned Herrera Velutini weeks after Habba began working for the family’s company.
Trump Questions Habba’s $50 Million Deal
Trump described the arrangement as “totally obnoxious and outrageous” and said it was unacceptable. Reuters reported that Trump also claimed he had told Habba he did not want her to be paid under the arrangement. His comments have raised questions about the financial agreement and the relationship between the former lawyer and the president.
According to The New York Times, the contract offered Habba $10 million annually for four years, plus bonuses, through Concord Partners, a company established by Herrera’s daughter, Isabela Herrera. The newspaper reported that Habba finalised the agreement while serving in a role at the US Department of Justice, before later beginning work for the company. These details have prompted scrutiny of the arrangement and the circumstances surrounding it.
The Billionaire’s Pardon Raises Further Questions
Julio Herrera Velutini had faced federal charges connected to an alleged bribery scheme in Puerto Rico before pleading guilty to a misdemeanor campaign-finance offence in 2025. Trump granted him a pardon in January 2026, after Habba had begun working for the family’s company. The sequence of events has prompted public questions about potential conflicts of interest, although the timing alone does not establish that the employment agreement influenced the pardon.
Habba has denied that her employment had anything to do with securing a pardon, stating that she did not receive payment for a pardon and did not work to obtain one. Separately, The New York Times reported that Trump told aides and allies that part of the money should go to his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity. It remains unclear whether Habba agreed to make such a donation.
Questions of Money, Access and Accountability
The controversy has placed the relationship between lucrative private contracts, political connections and presidential pardons under renewed scrutiny. Trump’s public criticism of a former lawyer adds another dimension to a story that raises questions about transparency and the appearance of conflicts of interest.
However, the reported contract and the subsequent pardon do not, by themselves, prove that the two were exchanged for one another. Establishing such a connection would require further evidence.
Should public officials and people with close political connections face stricter scrutiny when large private contracts coincide with presidential pardons, or should the focus remain on evidence of actual wrongdoing?
OGM News will continue to follow developments in this case as further information emerges.
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