Washington, DC — President Donald Trump’s clemency operation is facing renewed ethics scrutiny after a Venezuelan billionaire received a full pardon weeks after his family provided former Trump attorney Alina Habba with a contract guaranteeing her more than $50 million.
Julio Herrera Velutini had faced felony bribery charges before reaching an unusually lenient 2025 plea agreement for a misdemeanor campaign-finance violation. His family then pursued a pardon through Christopher Kise, another former Trump attorney.
Meanwhile, Herrera’s daughter, Isabela Herrera, donated $3.5 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC and pledged another $2.5 million toward Trump’s White House ballroom project.
Then came the Habba deal. The Herrera family offered Habba $10 million annually for four years plus bonuses through Concord Partners, a newly created company whose business activities remain unclear. Habba began working there Jan. 1 while also serving as an adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump pardoned Herrera weeks later.
Habba denies participating in the pardon effort and says her employment arrangement was disclosed and vetted by the Justice Department. The White House has also denied that political donations influenced the clemency decision.
The sequence nevertheless adds to broader scrutiny of Trump pardons involving wealthy defendants, political donors and individuals represented by lawyers or lobbyists with close ties to the president.
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