Alina Habba says she had nothing to do with a Venezuelan banker's pardon

Alina Habba is pushing back hard on claims that she helped a Venezuelan billionaire get a presidential pardon.

The longtime attorney for Donald Trump took to X to reject a report linking a lucrative new job of hers to the clemency granted to banker Julio Herrera Velutini.

Her response

Habba argued that earlier coverage from the same newspaper had already given the credit for the pardon to a different lawyer. She said that attorney did the work without her.

She also said every job she has held was screened and disclosed to the Department of Justice. In her words, any suggestion that her employment "had anything to do with securing a pardon is false and defamatory."

The job in question

According to the report, Habba went to work for a company created by Velutini's daughter, Isabela Herrera. The firm is called Concord Partners.

The family reportedly offered Habba a four-year deal worth $50 million to serve as the new firm's general counsel. At the time she was advising the Justice Department.

Concord Partners has no public profile so far and what the company actually does is reportedly unclear. Herrera had earlier given $3.5 million to a super PAC that backs Trump.

The case and the timing

Velutini once faced felony bribery charges. His case ended with a plea to a lesser misdemeanor tied to campaign finance. After that his lawyers sought clemency.

Habba was still advising Attorney General Pam Bondi at the Justice Department when the Concord Partners agreement was locked in. She started at the firm on January 1. A few weeks later Trump pardoned Velutini.

That sequence has drawn questions. Habba firmly maintains she played no part in the pardon.