Concord Partners ends Habba's $50 million deal. She keeps $14.5 million already paid

Concord Partners, a Florida company set up by the daughter of a Venezuelan banker later pardoned by President Donald Trump, has ended the four-year, $50 million contract it gave his former lawyer, Alina Habba Mildon, according to a termination letter dated Nov. 4 and documents obtained by The New York Times. The letter cited a "failure to perform duties." That phrasing is the company's stated reason, not a finding by a court or regulator.

The firing was first reported on Nov. 10 in a Times dispatch by Tyler Pager, syndicated by The Philadelphia Inquirer. It came days after Trump, speaking at Mar-a-Lago on Oct. 31, called the deal "totally obnoxious and outrageous" and said he had told Habba Mildon he did not want her paid, Al Jazeera reported, citing Reuters. She will keep $14.5 million already paid, the Times reported: an $8 million signing bonus and $6.5 million in other payments. Representatives for the Herrera family declined to comment. Habba Mildon declined to comment on the termination, but a person close to her told the Times she planned to pursue legal action.

The sequence that made the contract a political story is still unresolved. Habba Mildon finalized the deal in late 2025, began work on Jan. 1, 2026, while serving as a senior adviser to the attorney general, and two weeks later Trump granted Julio Herrera Velutini a full and unconditional pardon. She has denied any role in that clemency. No court, inspector general or congressional committee has found that the job was payment for a pardon. The new fact is the contract itself: it has been cut, the stated reason is performance, and $14.5 million has already changed hands.

This article updates 567 Politics' earlier account of the contract, which was published on Nov. 9, before the termination letter became public.

What the termination letter says, and what it does not#

The Times reported that it reviewed the Nov. 4 letter and other documents, and that a person close to the Herrera family said Habba Mildon's "priorities appeared to shift away from Concord" after she began dating Turhan Mildon, a Turkish investor, earlier this year. The couple married in September in New York, the Times reported, with several senior administration officials among the guests, including Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel.

That account of her performance is one side's, delivered anonymously. The company has not released the letter publicly, and 567 Politics has not independently obtained it. Habba Mildon has not answered the performance allegation on the record. A planned lawsuit, if filed, would be the first public forum in which both sides would have to put their claims in writing. Until then, "failure to perform duties" should be read as Concord Partners' stated ground for ending the contract, not as a verified description of her work.

The full scope of that work remains unclear. The Times reported that she was hired as general counsel, and that the person close to the family said she was brought on to help with Julio Herrera's criminal case and with the company's operations. Concord Partners has no public website or disclosed line of business. A third-party index of Florida Division of Corporations records lists Concord Partners LLC, document number L25000485197, as an active Florida limited liability company filed on Oct. 22, 2025, with Isabela Herrera as manager and a principal address at 7901 4th St. N, Suite 300, in St. Petersburg, a virtual-office address used by many other companies. The official sunbiz.org search was blocked by a challenge when checked on Nov. 11, 2026, so the state's own detail page could not be opened directly. The company's 2026 annual report was recorded as filed on Feb. 22, 2026, and the entity was still listed as active.

The contract: $10 million a year, plus a signing bonus she keeps#

According to the Times, the four-year agreement paid $10 million a year plus bonuses and guaranteed more than $50 million in total. Habba Mildon started on Jan. 1. Even after the Nov. 4 termination, she retains the $8 million signing bonus and $6.5 million already paid. The Times did not publish a line-by-line accounting of which months those $6.5 million covered, or of the unpaid bonuses that would have pushed the guarantee above $50 million. Those remaining amounts are therefore not independently itemized here.

Signing bonus, retained

$8M

Other payments already made, retained

$6.5M

Annual salary under the four-year deal

$10M

Source: The New York Times, via The Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 10, 2026

Show the numbers

Item	Amount
Signing bonus, retained	$8M
Other payments already made, retained	$6.5M
Annual salary under the four-year deal	$10M

The size of the fee is what Trump objected to in public. "I thought it was totally obnoxious and outrageous, and it's not acceptable," he told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Oct. 31, according to Reuters, as carried by Al Jazeera. "Not acceptable at all." In remarks quoted by the Times in the Nov. 10 report, 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 Times also reported that Trump told aides and allies the Herrera family should stop paying her and suggested to some that she donate to his future presidential library or another Trump-related entity. Those private comments were not independently recorded. His public remarks focused on the size of the payment and on his instruction that she not be paid. He did not, in the remarks quoted above, say the contract was payment for a pardon.

Whether Concord Partners ended the deal because of those comments, because of the performance claim, or for both reasons is not established. The letter is dated Nov. 4, four days after the Mar-a-Lago remarks and about two weeks after the Times first disclosed the contract on Oct. 20. Correlation in time is not proof of cause.

She signed while she was still a federal prosecutor#

The ethics question does not depend on the firing. It depends on when she signed, what office she held, and what the job required her to do.

The Times reported that Habba Mildon finalized the agreement in late October 2025, days after Concord Partners was registered, while she was still serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey. On Dec. 8, 2025, she resigned from that post after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that her appointment was unlawful. In a statement quoted by PBS News, from the Associated Press, she said she was stepping down "to protect the stability and integrity" of the office, and that she would remain at the Justice Department as a senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi. CBS News reported the same day that Bondi accepted the resignation, assigned Habba to advise on U.S. attorneys, and said she would return to the New Jersey office if the department won an appeal.

She formally began work for Concord Partners on Jan. 1, 2026, the Times reported, while still in that senior-adviser role and while classified as a special government employee. Under Justice Department ethics guidance, a special government employee is anyone expected to work for the government 130 days or less in a 365-day period. Such employees may hold outside jobs, subject to conflict-of-interest rules. The core criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 208, bars an employee from personally and substantially participating in a particular matter that has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of an outside employer. Department rules also restrict the outside practice of law, though the Deputy Attorney General may waive those limits for special government employees.

Habba Mildon has said her outside employment was "vetted and disclosed to the D.O.J." The department, in a statement quoted by the Times in its Oct. 20 report, said she did not speak to anyone about a pardon. A White House official, also quoted in that report, said she had nothing to do with the pardon and that clemency goes through a review that includes the White House Counsel's Office and the Justice Department. 567 Politics has not seen the disclosure forms or any waiver. Disclosure, if it occurred, would be evidence that the department was told about the job. It would not, by itself, establish what work she did or whether any matter she touched at the department affected Concord Partners or the Herrera family.

In an Oct. 20 post, Habba Mildon framed the work as a return to private practice after leaving public service. The Times's reporting that she started at Concord on Jan. 1 while still a Justice Department adviser is the competing official timeline. Both can be true only if "leaving public service" is read loosely; as a matter of dates, the two accounts are in tension.

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The next day she restated the denial in shorter form: she was never paid to secure a pardon, never met with anyone at the White House or the Justice Department about a pardon, and had "never done any work in any capacity whatsoever for a pardon for anyone, period."

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Those statements are her account. They have not been tested in a hearing or a court filing. They also do not address the separate performance claim in the Nov. 4 letter.

The pardon is documented. A link to the contract is not#

Julio Herrera Velutini, a banker from a prominent Venezuelan family, was charged in August 2022 in the District of Puerto Rico with a scheme to support the reelection campaign of then-Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced in exchange for the removal of a banking regulator who had scrutinized one of his banks, according to the indictment in United States v. Vázquez-Garced, No. 3:22-cr-00342. On Aug. 27, 2025, he pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of a foreign-national campaign-finance contribution, in United States v. Herrera-Velutini, No. 3:25-cr-00297, and the felony counts were dismissed, according to the plea agreement cited by the Campaign Legal Center. Vázquez Garced and former FBI agent Mark Rossini also pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and were pardoned on the same day.

The Justice Department's public clemency list records two warrants. On Jan. 15, 2026, Trump granted Herrera Velutini a full and unconditional pardon that, on its face, covered conspiracy, federal program bribery and honest-services wire-fraud charges in the 2022 case, listing his sentence as "N/A." An amended warrant dated Jan. 20 names the later misdemeanor case and lists the offense as "Contribution by a foreign national." The same two-step pattern appears for Vázquez Garced and Rossini. The list was last updated on Oct. 20, 2026, when checked on Nov. 11.

The Times reported that Herrera Velutini's lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, a former Florida solicitor general who had served on Trump's personal legal team, was already working on a clemency request before the family hired Habba Mildon, and that a pardon had still not come through as of last fall. Habba Mildon pointed to that reporting in her Oct. 20 post, saying the Times had "already credited another capable attorney for what he successfully did without me." If Kise was the lawyer pursuing clemency, that undercuts the inference that her hiring was necessary to obtain the pardon. It does not, by itself, prove she had no involvement. The open question is what Concord Partners paid her to do in those two weeks before Jan. 15, and after.

1. 2022-08Herrera Velutini is charged in the Puerto Rico bribery case
2. 2024-12-31MAGA Inc. reports a $2.5 million contribution in Isabela Herrera's name
3. 2025-07-22MAGA Inc. reports a further $1 million contribution in her name
4. 2025-08-27Herrera Velutini pleads guilty to a misdemeanor campaign-finance charge
5. 2025-10-22Concord Partners LLC is filed in Florida, with Isabela Herrera as manager
6. 2025-10Habba Mildon finalizes the $50 million general-counsel agreement, per the Times
7. 2025-12-08She resigns as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey after the Third Circuit ruling
8. 2026-01-01She begins work at Concord Partners, still a Justice Department adviser
9. 2026-01-15Trump grants Herrera Velutini a full pardon; an amended warrant follows on Jan. 20
10. 2026-10-20The Times discloses the contract; Habba Mildon denies any pardon work
11. 2026-10-27Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Dave Min seek her written answers by Nov. 13
12. 2026-10-31Trump calls the deal outrageous and says he does not want her paid
13. 2026-11-04Concord Partners' letter terminates the contract, citing a failure to perform duties

Source: Justice Department clemency list, FEC filings, Florida company index, The New York Times via The Philadelphia Inquirer, Welch-Min letter

Inferring that the contract produced the pardon, solely because one followed the other, is the post hoc error. The dates are real. A causal link has not been established, and Habba Mildon, the Justice Department and a White House official have all denied one.

The $3.5 million in MAGA Inc. contributions is on the FEC record#

A separate, documented fact sits alongside the contract. MAGA Inc., committee C00892471, reported two contributions in the name of Isabela Herrera, Julio Herrera Velutini's daughter and the manager of Concord Partners: $2.5 million on Dec. 31, 2024, listing her as a self-employed financial consultant in Pinecrest, Florida, and $1 million on July 22, 2025, listing her as a self-employed finance consultant in New York. Those figures were retrieved from the official OpenFEC API on Nov. 11, 2026, and match the committee's 2024 year-end image and amended post-special-election image. The same API returns one earlier federal gift in her name: $20.20 on Feb. 23, 2020, earmarked for Pete for America.

An FEC disclosure is a report of who the committee says gave the money. It is not a finding that the named person was the true source. On Feb. 17, 2026, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint alleging that Julio Herrera Velutini, a foreign national who cannot legally contribute in U.S. elections, funneled the $3.5 million through his daughter as a straw donor in an effort to obtain leniency and then a pardon. The complaint cites her limited prior giving, her listed occupation and the timing of the gifts around the plea and the clemency request. Those are arguments for an investigation, not a conclusion. As of Nov. 11, 2026, no public FEC finding on that complaint was located. Isabela Herrera has not issued a public response that 567 Politics could verify. The plea deal already included an admission, quoted by the Campaign Legal Center from the Aug. 27 agreement, that Herrera Velutini had knowingly promised a contribution he was barred from making to the Vázquez campaign. That admission concerns the 2020 Puerto Rico race, not the later MAGA Inc. gifts.

Federal law is clear on the two prohibitions the complaint invokes. 52 U.S.C. § 30121 bars foreign nationals from contributing in connection with U.S. elections. 52 U.S.C. § 30122 bars contributions in the name of another. A reason-to-believe finding by the FEC, if one is made, "does not establish that the law has been violated," as the commission's own policy, cited in the complaint, states. Until the commission acts, or a court does, the $3.5 million remains a disclosed contribution in Isabela Herrera's name, and the straw-donor claim remains an allegation.

Congress has asked questions. The answers are not yet public#

On Oct. 27, Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, and Rep. Dave Min, a California Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent Habba Mildon a letter seeking written answers by Nov. 13. They asked whether she, directly or through others, asked Trump to pardon Herrera Velutini; whether anyone asked her to do so; whether she spoke with lobbyists about that pardon or any other; whether she discussed Herrera Velutini with Trump or White House staff; and whether she has been involved in any other clemency decisions. A Nov. 2 press release from Welch's office said the letters were part of a broader bicameral inquiry into clemency and that the lawmakers were also writing to Herrera Velutini. The press release's headline calls Herrera Velutini a "corrupt Venezuelan banker." He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and was then pardoned; no new court has found corruption in the clemency itself.$$

The letter does not accuse Habba Mildon of a crime. It says the timing of her hiring and of Isabela Herrera's MAGA Inc. contributions "raise questions about whether improper considerations, including quid pro quo or 'pay-to-play' dynamics, may have affected" the pardon, and that Congress has an interest in whether "influence and access may have overridden the standard pardon review process." The constitutional pardon power, which the letter quotes, is broad. As 567 Politics has explained in the context of Trump's comments about preemptive pardons, a pardon can erase federal criminal exposure; it does not, by itself, settle an ethics or campaign-finance dispute, and it does not block a congressional inquiry.

As of Nov. 11, two days before the stated deadline, no public response from Habba Mildon to the Welch-Min letter was found. House Oversight Democrats have also used the contract in a broader argument about the administration. Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the committee's ranking Democrat and its expected chairman in January, wrote on Oct. 30 that "Trump is upset about Alina Habba's $50 million pardon deal," language that treats as settled the link Habba Mildon denies. His post is a political characterization, not a finding.$

What is established, and what is not#

Established by official or on-the-record records: Concord Partners LLC was filed in Florida on Oct. 22, 2025, with Isabela Herrera as manager. The Times, citing documents, reported a four-year general-counsel contract paying $10 million a year plus bonuses, guaranteed at more than $50 million, finalized while Habba Mildon was acting U.S. attorney and begun on Jan. 1 while she was a Justice Department adviser. Trump pardoned Herrera Velutini on Jan. 15, with an amended warrant on Jan. 20. MAGA Inc. reported $3.5 million in contributions in Isabela Herrera's name. Trump denounced the fee on Oct. 31 and said he did not want her paid. A Nov. 4 letter obtained by the Times terminated the contract for "failure to perform duties." She keeps $14.5 million already paid. Welch and Min have demanded written answers by Nov. 13. The Campaign Legal Center has asked the FEC to investigate the contributions as a possible straw-donor scheme.

Not established: that Habba Mildon sought, influenced or was paid for the pardon; that she failed to perform her duties, beyond the company's say-so; that Trump's public criticism caused the firing; that the MAGA Inc. money was Julio Herrera Velutini's; or that any official body has found a crime or ethics violation in the contract. The Justice Department and a White House official have said she was not involved in the pardon. She has said the same, in public, in her own words.

The records that would narrow those gaps are still out of sight: the text of the employment agreement and the Nov. 4 letter, any Justice Department ethics waiver or financial-disclosure form, Concord Partners' actual work product, Habba Mildon's forthcoming answers to Congress, and any FEC determination on the February complaint. Until those appear, the story is a terminated contract, a documented pardon, a large disclosed contribution and a set of unanswered official questions — not a completed finding of wrongdoing.

Differing perspectives

Should Congress and the FEC keep investigating the Habba contract and the Herrera pardon?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Continue the congressional inquiry

  Who holds it: Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Dave Min

  Welch and Min argue that the timing of Habba Mildon's hiring and of Isabela Herrera's $3.5 million in reported contributions to MAGA Inc. raises questions about whether influence and access overrode the ordinary pardon review. They note that Herrera Velutini received a full pardon two weeks after she began work at his daughter's company, while she was still a Justice Department adviser, and they have asked her, in writing, whether she appealed to the president or White House staff, spoke with lobbyists, or took part in other clemency decisions. They say Congress has a duty to test whether the pardon power was used for the public welfare.

  In their words: Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Dave Min ↗

• Investigate the MAGA Inc. donations

  Who holds it: Campaign Legal Center

  The Campaign Legal Center argues that the Federal Election Commission should investigate whether the $3.5 million MAGA Inc. reported in Isabela Herrera's name was actually her father's money. It points to her limited prior giving, her listed occupation as a self-employed financial consultant, and the timing of the gifts around her father's plea and pardon request. Because he is a foreign national, the group says, he could not legally contribute himself, and a straw-donor arrangement would violate both the foreign-national ban and the ban on contributions in the name of another. The complaint asks the commission to determine the true source of the funds.

  In their words: Campaign Legal Center ↗

• Stop the remaining payments

  Who holds it: President Donald Trump

  Trump argues that the size of the contract was unacceptable regardless of any pardon dispute. After the terms became public, he told reporters the deal was totally obnoxious and outrageous, said he had told Habba Mildon he did not want her paid, and described the amount as far too much. He said someone had spoken to the people who made the deal and that she had used her relationship to obtain it. In comments reported by the Times, he also told aides the family should stop paying her and suggested she direct money to his future presidential library or another related entity.

  In their words: Al Jazeera, citing Reuters ↗

• Treat the job as disclosed legal work

  Who holds it: Alina Habba Mildon, and Justice Department and White House officials quoted by The New York Times

  Habba Mildon says her employment was vetted and disclosed to the Justice Department and had nothing to do with a pardon. She says she was never paid to secure clemency, never met with anyone at the White House or the department about a pardon, and has never done any pardon work for anyone. She points to New York Times reporting that credited another lawyer, Christopher Kise, with the clemency effort, and she calls suggestions of a bargain false and defamatory. The department, in a statement quoted by the Times, said she did not speak to anyone about a pardon, and a White House official said she had nothing to do with it.

  In their words: Alina Mildon on X ↗

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