The latest: Multi-million dollar corporate contract collapses amid ethics firestorm
NEW YORK — November 10, 2026.
Alina Habba Mildon, the fiercely loyal former personal attorney to Donald Trump who transitioned into senior advisory roles, has been abruptly fired from a controversial $50 million corporate consulting contract with Concord Partners—an arrangement inked shortly before Trump granted a sweeping federal pardon to the firm’s billionaire financier founder.
In a formal termination letter dated November 4, 2026, which circulated publicly among legal and political circles on Tuesday, Concord Partners severed its four-year agreement with Habba Mildon, explicitly citing her alleged “failure to perform duties.” Concord Partners was established by Isabela Herrera, the daughter of Venezuelan banking mogul Julio Herrera Velutini. Velutini had faced federal bribery charges in Puerto Rico before receiving a presidential pardon from Trump in January 2026.
The contract, first unearthed in an investigative report by The New York Times, guaranteed Habba Mildon an astronomical $10 million annual retainer alongside hefty performance bonuses and an upfront $8 million signing bonus. However, despite the abrupt firing, Habba Mildon will walk away with an estimated $14.5 million in total payouts already disbursed—including the full signing bonus and roughly $6.5 million in accrued advisory fees.
Presidential fury: Trump blasted contract as 'totally obnoxious and outrageous'
The firing follows weeks of mounting political and ethical fallout that reached the highest levels of the incoming administration. When news of Habba Mildon’s $50 million agreement first broke, Donald Trump was reportedly furious over the optics of his former defense counsel securing a multi-million-dollar windfall connected to an individual who had just benefited from executive clemency.
In uncharacteristically blunt public remarks, Trump openly condemned the lucrative contract, describing the pact as “totally obnoxious and outrageous” and declaring that such arrangements were “not acceptable.” The public rebuke from her longtime patron signaled an irreparable rupture between Habba Mildon and Trump's inner circle, leaving Concord Partners with little incentive to preserve the high-priced relationship.
Sources familiar with Concord’s operations indicated that company executives grew increasingly dissatisfied with Habba Mildon’s engagement following her marriage to Turkish investor Turhan Mildon. The termination notice claimed she became largely unavailable for executive consultations, neglected strategic deliverables, and failed to provide substantive advisory work commensurate with the firm's historic compensation package.
The Herrera Velutini connection and Washington ethics scrutiny
The collapse of the agreement casts a renewed spotlight on the circumstances surrounding Julio Herrera Velutini’s clemency. Federal prosecutors in San Juan had indicted Velutini in 2022 on charges of conspiracy, bribery, and wire fraud, alleging that he promised millions in campaign contributions to former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced in exchange for firing the island's top banking regulator.
Velutini vigorously maintained his innocence, and Trump granted him a full unconditional pardon in January 2026. While Habba Mildon has steadfastly denied that her advisory pact with Concord Partners had any connection to executive branch decision-making or clemency petitions, government watchdog groups and congressional Democrats have pointed to the timing as evidence of potential conflicts of interest.
“The appearance of a former presidential defense lawyer receiving tens of millions from a family whose patriarch secured a federal pardon represents an egregious breakdown of post-government ethics,” said a spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “Even with the contract terminated, the financial trail demands congressional oversight.”
