'Totally obnoxious': Trump slams ex-lawyer Alina Habba over her $50m deal with the family of a Venezuelan banker he pardoned
Habba Mildon, 42, signed a four-year, $50 million contract as general counsel for Concord Partners — a firm started by the daughter of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini — while still serving as a senior adviser at the Justice Department. Trump pardoned Herrera on January 15, just two weeks after Habba formally started the role on January 1.
Trump told aides he had not authorised the deal and demanded the Herrera family stop paying Habba the remaining instalments of her contract.
He also told allies that some of the $50m should go toward his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity, though he later told reporters he did not necessarily expect her to follow through.
Habba maintains that no payment was ever made to her in exchange for a pardon, that she never raised the matter with White House or Justice Department contacts, and that she carried out no pardon-related work.