Trump aide Alina Habba had a multimillion-dollar ‘appointment deal’ linked to a Venezuelan billionaire who got a pardon from US president

Alina Habba, the US President Donald Trump’s legal aide and MAGA insider, is at the centre of multiple financial controversies, just ahead of the Midterm elections. The New York Times reported on Wednesday (Oct 21) that Venezuelan billionaire banker Julio Herrera Velutini’s family guaranteed her more than $50 million over four years to become general counsel of Concord Partners, an appointment deal that she took. Concord is a little-known Florida firm established by Velutini’s daughter Isabela Herrera, who is an American citizen. The appointment agreement was finalised in late October 2025, while Habba was still serving as US attorney in New Jersey. The question is whether the appointment deal was linked to Herrera’s pursuit of a presidential pardon, which he eventually received from Trump weeks after Habba began working for Concord. Habba has denied any such link.

The ‘$50 million for presidential pardon’ controversy: Who is Herrera?

Herrera is a Venezuelan billionaire banker with Italian citizenship. In 2022, he was charged over an alleged scheme to bribe Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced into dismissing a regulator investigating his bank. He pleaded guilty in August 2025 to a single misdemeanour campaign finance charge under a deal negotiated by his lawyer, Christopher M. Kise. Interestingly, Kise has a Trump connection too. The former Florida solicitor general had served on Trump’s personal legal team.

Herrera pursued clemency to clear his record. His daughter donated $3.5 million to a Trump-linked super PAC.

How is Alina Habba’s contract linked to the presidential pardon of Herrera?

According to the NYT, Habba’s contract at Concord guaranteed her $10 million annually for four years, apart from bonuses. She began working for Concord on New Year’s Day of 2026, while still serving as a senior adviser to then Attorney General Pam Bondi, who oversaw US attorneys. Note here that Habba was also a special government employee, a status that permitted limited government service alongside outside employment, subject to conflict-of-interest restrictions.

Along with Herrera, Trump also pardoned two others, including a former FBI agent who had worked as Herrera’s consultant. All three had pleaded guilty to misdemeanour charges and were pardoned shortly before their scheduled sentencing.

Was Habba recruited to help Herrera’s clemency campaign?

That is a central question raised by the NYT investigation. People familiar with Habba’s contract told the newspaper they believed she had been hired to help with Herrera’s pardon bid and were shocked at the scale of her compensation. Habba is saying that any insinuation that her employment had anything to do with securing a pardon was false. The US Department of Justice said she had not discussed a pardon with anyone. The White House also denied her involvement

Habba's other controversy: The Richard Grenell feud

The pardon controversy followed a separate dispute involving Habba’s husband, Turkish investor Turhan Mildon, whom she married in September 2026. Mildon has business interests in Venezuela. According to NYT reporting, his connections to figures around Nicolás Maduro’s government exposed his Venezuelan assets to potential risks amid Washington’s campaign against the administration. Maduro was captured by US forces in January 2026 and his regime was removed.

Habba has accused Richard Grenell, a former US special envoy to Venezuela and former Kennedy Center president, of mishandling funds connected to her husband. The dispute concerns a payment linked to the Kennedy Center and a reported transaction involving the Democratic Republic of Congo and a Texas defence company. Trump directed White House Counsel Will Scharf to investigate, while Grenell denied wrongdoing.

The many legal disputes of Alina Habba

Habba is a longtime legal ally and legal aide of Trump. In 2022, she filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and others, alleging a conspiracy against Trump. That case was dismissed, and Habba was ordered to pay the defendants’ legal fees.

She also represented Trump in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case, which he lost. In August 2025, US District Judge Matthew Brann ruled that Habba’s appointment as acting US attorney for New Jersey was unlawful. The ruling disqualified her from participating in certain prosecutions, and she resigned in December 2025.