President Trump criticizes former lawyer’s contract worth over $50 million — Al Jazeera
US President Donald Trump in Florida criticized a contract worth more than $50 million that his former lawyer Alina Habba Mildon, according to The New York Times, signed with the family of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini. Trump later pardoned the banker. As Al Jazeera reports, the president called the arrangement unacceptable.
Four-year contract
According to The New York Times, in October 2025 Habba Mildon signed a four-year contract with Concord Partners, a company owned by Herrera Velutini’s family. The agreement provided for guaranteed payments totaling more than $50 million, including an annual salary of $10 million and bonuses.
At the time she signed the contract, she served as acting US attorney for New Jersey, a position to which Trump appointed her after she had worked as his personal lawyer. In December, she left the post after a court ruled that she could not legally hold it. After that, Habba Mildon became a senior adviser to the US attorney general at the Department of Justice.
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Pardon for the banker
On January 1, Habba Mildon officially began working for the banker’s family while remaining an employee of the Department of Justice. Just two weeks later, on January 15, Trump granted Herrera Velutini a full presidential pardon.
In the United States, the banker was accused of bribing former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced in exchange for removing a financial regulator who was investigating his bank. In August 2025, he reached an agreement with federal prosecutors. Habba Mildon denies any role in securing the pardon and has said that she received no money for facilitating it and did not discuss the matter with the White House or the Department of Justice.
According to The New York Times, Trump also told aides and allies that Habba Mildon should transfer part of the funds to his future presidential library or another organization associated with him. The Department of Justice did not provide Reuters with an immediate comment on the situation.
