Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba laughed off a question from CBS News about whether she would consider donating fees she made in a reported $50 million pardon deal to President Trump's library.
Habba reportedly signed a four-year, $50 million agreement to become general counsel for Concord Partners, a company established in October 2025 by the daughter of Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Herrera Velutini, while serving as a U.S. attorney and senior adviser in New Jersey and the Department of Justice. She officially began the role at Concord on Jan. 1, and Herrera Velutini, who was charged by the Biden DOJ for his role in a Puerto Rican bribery scheme, later received a full presidential pardon from Trump on Jan. 15. (RELATED: Pete Hegseth's Wife Gets In On Trump 2.0's Lucrative Swamp Bonanza)
For a report on Trump's presidential library, CBS News asked Habba whether she would consider donating the pardon deal fees to the library or another Trump-related entity. Habba responded "haha" before quickly deleting the text and declining to comment, according to CBS News.
Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba - asked by @CBSNews if she will donate her fees from a contract tied to the family of a businessman Mr. Trump pardoned - responded to the text with a “haha” reaction then removed it
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) November 5, 2026
Comes after @tylerpager reporting in NYT on Trump telling… pic.twitter.com/fqo9eduv8W
Trump publicly rebuked Habba in late October, telling reporters at a Mar-a-Lago Halloween party that Habba entering into the deal was "totally obnoxious and outrageous."
"I thought it was terrible," he said. "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 president also criticized Habba privately among aides and allies when he learned of the deal, first reported by The New York Times, and said that she should donate a portion of the money to his future presidential library. Trump, however, said on Halloween that he was not expecting Habba to do it but suggested someone from Herrera Velutini's family should.
"I expect maybe the people," he said of the family. "I don't know if anybody wants to make it. But it's unacceptable what she did."
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