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Herrera pardon

News · Heat 6.0 / 10 · 4 shows · 19m airtime

President Trump granted Venezuelan billionaire Julio Herrera a full and unconditional pardon in October 2026, weeks after Herrera's family hired former Trump lawyer Alina Habba for a $50 million job at Concord Partners, a company with no public profile. Herrera had already pled felony bribery charges down to a misdemeanor. Reporting has since established that Habba finalized the Concord Partners contract while still serving as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, and that she held a special government employee arrangement allowing outside income during her 130 days at DOJ. Herrera's daughter, an American citizen, also donated $3.5 million to a Trump-backed super PAC. The discussion centers on whether the hire, the donation and the pardon amount to pay-for-play.

How 4 podcasts covered it

  1. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-22 (3:00 to 4:00)
    Plays the pardon as pay-for-play
    Ronny Chieng walks through the sequence: Herrera pled felony bribery down to a misdemeanor, his family hired Alina Habba for a $50 million job at a company with no public profile, and weeks later Trump issued a full pardon. Plays it for the pay-for-play joke.
    New angle: Herrera's family hired Alina Habba for a $50 million job at a company with no public profile weeks before the pardon.
  2. The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-22 (13:11 to 16:41)
    Walks through the Concord Partners contract
    Walks through the New York Times investigation into Habba's Concord Partners contract: the $10 million a year over four years, the company formed by Herrera's daughter days before signing, and Habba finalizing the deal while U.S. Attorney. Adds Habba's denial and J.D. Vance's on-record rejection of pay-for-play.
    New angle: Habba finalized the Concord Partners contract while still serving as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
  3. Pod Save America, 2026-10-23 (55:45 to 1:03:01)
    Adds Habba's special employee arrangement
    Walks through the Times report on the pardon: Herrera wanted a campaign finance conviction expunged, a super PAC donation did not work, and the fake general counsel job paid $50 million over four years. Adds that Habba held a special government employee arrangement letting her earn outside income while at DOJ.
    New angle: Habba held a special government employee arrangement allowing outside income during her 130 days at DOJ.
  4. The Daily Show: Ears Edition, 2026-10-24 (27:20 to 30:28)
    Pairs the Vance interview with the pardon story
    Ronny Chieng pairs Vance's softball interview and his pay-for-play denial with a pardon story: a Venezuelan billionaire who pled bribery down to a misdemeanor got a full pardon weeks after his family hired Alina Habba for a $50 million job.
    New angle: Herrera's family hired Habba for $50 million weeks before Trump granted him a full pardon.
  5. The Daily, 2026-10-30 (24:27 to 28:10)
    Adds the family's $3.5 million super PAC gift
    Walks through the Times report on Habba's $50 million deal with Herrera Velatini's family, adding the family's $3.5 million super PAC donation and its ballroom gift, and notes there is no smoking gun, only a fact pattern.
    New angle: Herrera Velatini's daughter, an American citizen, donated $3.5 million to a Trump-backed super PAC.
Unpacking...