Politics

Trump Criticises $50 Million Deal Between Former Lawyer and Venezuelan Banker’s Family

By Gokul Ankari

President Donald Trump criticised a $50 million contract that his former personal lawyer, Alina Habba Mildon, secured with a company linked to a Venezuelan banking family. Speaking at Mar‑a‑Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump called the arrangement “totally obnoxious and outrageous” and said he had told Habba Mildon he did not want her to receive the money. He added, “I thought it was terrible… I told her, and I said, ‘I don’t want her paid.’ I thought we had somebody speak to the people that did it, and she used her relationship to do that. And it was far too much.”

The New York Times reported that the family of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini had guaranteed Habba Mildon more than $50 million over four years to serve as general counsel at Concord Partners. The agreement included an annual payment of $10 million and additional bonuses. Habba Mildon signed the contract in late October 2025 while serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Concord Partners, linked to Herrera’s family, had been registered only days earlier.

The timing of the agreement attracted attention because Herrera was facing federal bribery charges in the U.S. and his family was seeking a presidential pardon. He reached a plea agreement in August 2025 before Trump granted him a pardon on January 15 of this year, according to the DOJ’s website.

Habba Mildon’s employment with the family overlapped with her transition between government positions. A court had disqualified her from continuing as U.S. attorney before she began working for the Herrera family. She resigned from that position on December 8 last year and was appointed a senior adviser to the attorney general on the same day. She began working with Concord Partners on January 1 while holding the senior adviser position.

Habba Mildon has denied any connection between her employment arrangement and Herrera’s pardon. She said she had never received payment for securing a pardon, had not discussed the matter with anyone at the White House or Justice Department, and had performed no work to obtain clemency for anyone.

Trump’s remarks came after questions about the reported financial agreement and its timing in relation to Herrera’s pardon. The president said he had objected to the payment and considered the arrangement inappropriate. It remains unclear whether the four‑year contract can be terminated before its scheduled completion.