Trump Presses Former Lawyer to Donate From $50 Million Deal
Alina Habba Mildon, a former personal lawyer to President Donald Trump who briefly served as New Jersey’s U.S. attorney, signed a contract worth $50 million over four years to serve as chief legal adviser to a billionaire Venezuelan family. Trump has conveyed to aides and allies his view that she ought to contribute some of the funds to his future presidential library or a different organization associated with Trump.
Trump’s Inner Circle Faces Another Pay-to-Play Cloud
The latest account of Trump’s demands for money from those around him raises fresh questions about the blurred lines between public office and private gain. Alina Habba Mildon, his former personal lawyer and a former interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, secured a $50 million contract to advise a billionaire Venezuelan family while she was still at the Justice Department.
The family’s patriarch, Julio Herrera Velutini, had faced felony bribery charges before the Justice Department allowed him to plead guilty to a campaign finance misdemeanor. After Habba began her new role, Herrera received a presidential pardon. He had earlier given $3.5 million to a Trump super PAC.
Trump has told aides and allies that Habba ought to direct a portion of her contract earnings toward his future presidential library or a separate organization connected to Trump. The precise request remains unclear, but the episode echoes the case of Chris LaCivita and James Blair, who donated consulting fees to the library after facing criticism over work in Republika Srpska.
When political insiders can turn access and government connections into lucrative contracts—and then face pressure to pay the president’s preferred cause—the public interest takes a back seat. The reported push for a donation only sharpens concerns about a system in which loyalty and money appear closely intertwined.
Trump Seeks Library Donation After Former Lawyer’s $50 Million Deal
The dispute over Alina Habba Mildon’s lucrative contract is being cast as a test of whether people in Trump’s orbit can profit from political access without facing scrutiny. Trump has told aides and allies she should contribute part of her $50 million deal toward his future presidential library or a different group affiliated with Trump.
Habba Mildon, Trump’s former personal lawyer, briefly served as New Jersey’s U.S. attorney and later worked as a Justice Department adviser. She took a general counsel position with a billionaire Venezuelan family. The family’s patriarch, Julio Herrera Velutini, had faced felony bribery charges, then pleaded guilty to a campaign finance misdemeanor and later received a pardon. He had also contributed $3.5 million to a pro-Trump super PAC.
Chris LaCivita and James Blair, two Trump political advisers, faced criticism for consulting work in Republika Srpska. After Trump threatened to cut them off, they donated the fees they had earned to his presidential library, and were welcomed back into his good graces.
That precedent helps explain why Trump’s allies may see a library contribution as a way to address concerns about private political work. The central question now is whether Habba Mildon will make a donation, and whether doing so would satisfy the president.
