Billionaire Discovers That Justice Comes With a $50 Million VIP Package

Billionaire banker Julio Herrera Velutini, who faced federal bribery charges before pleading guilty to a campaign finance violation, received a presidential pardon in January. Two weeks earlier, Alina Habba, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, had become general counsel at a company set up by his daughter, on a deal the New York Times reports was worth more than $50 million over four years. That is quite a substantial salary at a company with no public profile.

Of course, hiring an expensive lawyer is perfectly legal. And paying someone with powerful political connections does not automatically mean buying influence: Habba calls any suggestion that her job had anything to do with the pardon false, and the White House denies a link too. It simply raises the fascinating question of what exactly makes legal advice worth $50 million.

For ordinary Americans, a criminal conviction can mean lost employment, damaged prospects and years of consequences. For billionaires, apparently, it can become a luxury administrative inconvenience requiring the right contacts and an exceptionally generous budget.

The American justice system proudly maintains that everyone is equal before the law. Some people, however, seem better positioned to afford the premium version. The spectacle already offers a valuable lesson in modern democracy: justice may be blind, but the people standing beside her certainly know how to read a bank statement.