Alina Habba's $50M job deal raises questions after Trump pardoned Venezuelan banker: Report
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump’s former attorney Alina Habba secured a deal worth more than $50 million with the family of Venezuelan banking tycoon Julio Herrera Velutini shortly before the president pardoned him, according to a New York Times investigation published on Tuesday, October 20.
The deal reportedly guaranteed Habba $10 million a year for four years, plus bonuses. Habba has denied helping Herrera Velutini secure a pardon in exchange for the job, while the White House has said she played no part in Trump’s decision.
Alina Habba signed $50M deal with Julio Herrera Velutini’s family
Habba’s reported deal came through Concord Partners, a Florida company founded by Herrera Velutini’s daughter, Isabela, in October 2025. According to the New York Times, Habba signed her contract within days of the company’s formation, while she was still serving as acting US attorney for the District of New Jersey.
She officially joined the company on January 1, after leaving her New Jersey position following a court ruling that her appointment was unlawful. However, she continued working as a senior adviser to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and retained an office inside the Justice Department.
Herrera Velutini, 54, had faced federal corruption charges before pleading guilty to a campaign finance misdemeanor in August 2025. Prosecutors had accused him in 2022 of taking part in a scheme to persuade Puerto Rico’s then-Governor Wanda Vazquez to remove a financial regulator who was investigating his bank.
His attorney, Christopher Kise, who had also represented Trump, helped secure the reduced charge. Herrera Velutini was reportedly unhappy with the deal and wanted his record cleared.
Trump pardoned Julio Herrera Velutini two weeks after Alina Habba joined Concord Partners
Trump pardoned Herrera Velutini on January 15, just two weeks after Habba officially joined Concord Partners. Five days later, the president issued an amended clemency order specifically covering the banker’s misdemeanor offense.
The timeline has drawn attention because Herrera Velutini’s daughter had donated $3.5 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC before the family began working to bring Habba into its orbit.
However, the reported timing does not establish that Habba’s employment was connected to the pardon. She has denied any such arrangement, and the White House has said she was not involved in the president’s decision.
Habba also defended her outside work in comments to the New York Times, saying it had been “vetted and disclosed to the DOJ.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), she pushed back against suggestions that her new position helped secure clemency for the banker.
Big Scoop: After leaving public service, I’ve gone back to doing what I have done for my entire career: being a lawyer. If the New York Times simply went back and looked at their own reporting, they have already credited another capable attorney for what he successfully did without me and took credit for. Any insinuation that my employment — all of which has been vetted and disclosed to the D.O.J. — had anything to do with securing a pardon is false and defamatory. What’s more, even though I’ve told this activist “journalist” at The New York Times for each of his many hit pieces on me and my family to refer to me as Alina Mildon, my actual name, they can’t help but do what they have always done- use my old name for clicks. Intentional, pathetic and obvious. I have stayed silent while the media attacked my husband, my friends, and me over the past week. My entire public career has been dedicated to calling out the radical left and the fake news. Anyone who thought that would change hasn’t been paying attention. We are 14 days away from the election - this is just another October surprise. Do not let left wing media distract you from the amazing work this President and administration has done. I know this game all too well.
— Alina Mildon (@AlinaHabba) October 20, 2026
“Any insinuation that my employment—all of which has been vetted and disclosed to the D.O.J.—had anything to do with securing a pardon is false and defamatory,” she wrote.
The Justice Department also told the newspaper that Habba had not discussed clemency with anyone there.
Alina Habba’s husband Turhan Mildon faces scrutiny over Venezuela ties
The reported deal adds to the scrutiny surrounding Habba and her husband, Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, 29. The couple married in September at Manhattan’s Waldorf Astoria, with guests including Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and White House counsel Will Scharf.
Mildon has reportedly obtained lucrative contracts involving state-controlled cement plants through Alex Saab, a close ally of deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He also took control of a seafood exporter previously seized by the Venezuelan regime.
US officials had considered imposing sanctions on Mildon over his reported connections to the Maduro government, according to earlier reporting by the New York Times. Mildon disputes those claims.
The Trump administration captured Maduro in a raid on his residence in Caracas in January. He now faces narcoterrorism charges in a New York court.
White House defends Trump’s pardon process as Alina Habba controversy grows
Habba’s connections to powerful figures in Trump’s circle have also come under scrutiny following a dispute involving Richard Grenell, Trump’s former Venezuela envoy and former head of the Kennedy Center.
According to the report, Habba accused Grenell of mishandling approximately $5.6 million that her husband believed was intended for the cultural institution. She reportedly took the allegations to Trump, who has ordered White House counsel Scharf to investigate.
A White House official rejected the suggestion that Habba had played a role in Herrera Velutini’s pardon.
“Alina Habba had nothing to do with this presidential pardon,” the official said, adding that the administration had a “robust pardon review process” involving White House counsel, the Justice Department, "pardon czar" Alice Johnson, and the president.
