Photo: US Department of Justice, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Official portrait, not a photo of Saturday's remarks at Mar-a-Lago.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday it was "unacceptable" for one of his former lawyers, Alina Habba Mildon, to secure a $50 million contract for herself while working at the US Department of Justice.
"I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it's not acceptable," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. "Not acceptable at all." He said he told Habba Mildon he did not want her to be paid, and called the episode "terrible."
What the New York Times reported
The New York Times reported last week that the family of Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan banker who faced US felony bribery charges before striking a plea deal in August 2025, guaranteed Habba Mildon more than $50 million over four years. The deal, according to the newspaper, would pay $10 million a year plus bonuses.
Habba Mildon was serving as the acting US attorney in New Jersey when she signed the contract with Herrera's family company, Concord Partners, days after it was registered in late October 2025, the Times reported. She resigned on December 8 and was appointed a senior adviser to the attorney general the same day, and was still in that role when, according to the Times, she started at Concord on January 1.
Trump pardoned Herrera on January 15, 2026, according to the Justice Department's website.
Habba Mildon's response
Habba Mildon said last week that she was never paid for a pardon, never met with anyone at the White House or Justice Department about a pardon, and never did any work for a pardon for anyone. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
The distinction matters: the Times reporting describes a contract with Herrera's family company, while Habba Mildon's denial addresses any link between payment and the pardon itself. Nothing in the reporting published so far establishes that she was paid for a pardon.
Why the episode matters now
The case raises ethics questions because a senior adviser's government work is subject to federal ethics requirements, including restrictions on participating in matters affecting personal financial interests. Habba Mildon's tenure as a federal prosecutor was already contested: a federal judge ruled in August that she had been serving without lawful authority after her interim term ended in July.
Trump's remarks, days before the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, amount to a public break with a longtime loyal lawyer over an arrangement he plainly does not want associated with his administration. What is not yet known is whether the Justice Department will respond to the reporting, or whether any ethics review follows. For now, the president's verdict is on the record — and unusually blunt.
Sources: Reuters; The New York Times (as reported by Reuters); Law Commentary.