Trump Blasts Lucrative Deal Secured by Former Attorney Alina Habba While Serving at Justice Department
President Trump has sharply condemned a reported $50 million business arrangement involving his longtime attorney Alina Habba Mildon, who allegedly negotiated the lucrative agreement with the family of a Venezuelan banker while serving as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey. The controversy has raised questions about the timing of the contract and its connection to a banker who subsequently received a presidential pardon.
Speaking to reporters Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump made clear that he disapproved of the arrangement. “I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it’s not acceptable,” the president said. “Not acceptable at all.”
The dispute centers on an agreement reportedly reached between Habba Mildon and a company associated with the family of Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan banker who had faced federal bribery charges before entering into a plea agreement in August 2025.
According to reporting by The New York Times, Herrera Velutini’s family agreed to compensate Habba Mildon with a package valued at more than $50 million over four years. The arrangement reportedly provided for an annual payment of $10 million, along with additional performance-based bonuses.
Trump said he had personally informed Habba Mildon that he opposed her receiving the money, describing the entire situation as “terrible.”
The agreement was reportedly signed in late October 2025, shortly after Concord Partners, the company associated with Herrera Velutini’s family, was formally established. At the time, Habba Mildon was serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a position she had assumed earlier that year.
Her tenure as the state’s top federal prosecutor had already become the subject of legal challenges. A federal court ultimately determined that she was not lawfully serving in the position, leading to her departure from the U.S. attorney’s office on December 8, 2025.
That same day, Habba Mildon received a new appointment as a senior adviser to the U.S. attorney general. According to the Times, she remained in that Justice Department position when she began working for Concord Partners on January 1, 2026.
Two weeks later, on January 15, Trump granted Herrera Velutini a presidential pardon, according to official Justice Department records. The sequence of events has drawn scrutiny because of the substantial compensation involved and Habba Mildon’s longstanding relationship with the president.
Habba Mildon has categorically rejected suggestions that her employment was connected to Herrera Velutini’s pardon. In a statement issued last week, she insisted that she never received compensation for arranging clemency, never discussed a pardon with White House or Justice Department officials, and never performed any work intended to secure a pardon for anyone.
The New York Times has also reported that Trump privately expressed anger over the arrangement and suggested that some of the money should be directed toward his future presidential library or another organization associated with him. The president reportedly communicated his opposition to further payments under the contract, although it remains unclear whether the agreement can be terminated before its four-year term expires.
The controversy has attracted additional attention because Herrera Velutini’s daughter, Isabela Herrera, reportedly contributed $3.5 million to a political action committee supporting Trump while her father was seeking clemency. The reported donation and subsequent employment agreement have prompted questions about possible influence, although neither establishes that the pardon was improperly obtained.
The White House has denied that Habba Mildon’s employment arrangement played any role in the president’s decision to pardon Herrera Velutini. The Justice Department has not publicly announced any findings of wrongdoing related to the contract.
