Miami — The federal trial of a former Miami congressman accused of secretly lobbying for the Venezuelan government during Trump’s first administration begins Monday, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio scheduled to testify about his dealings with his old friend.
Prosecutors allege that David Rivera was a tenant of the former president Nicolas Madurotaking advantage of his ties to the Republican Party from his time in Congress to push the White House to abandon its hard-line stance toward the socialist government in Venezuela.
Rivera, who was at one time Rubio’s roommate in Florida, allegedly convinced then-Secretary of State Delcy Rodriguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — to award him a $50 million lobbying contract paid for by the state oil company PDVSA. As part of the alleged foreign influence campaign, prosecutors say Rivera received assistance Texas Republican Representative Pete Sessions and a convicted associate of the Cali Cartel during his quest Meetings with the White House and Exxon Mobil On behalf of Maduro.
The trial offers a rare glimpse into the unseemly role played by Miami — long a haven for exiles, corruption and anti-communist crusaders — in shaping U.S. policy in Latin America. As such, it is perhaps appropriate that Rubio, The most prominent politician in MiamiHe is set to take a stand on Tuesday on his meetings with Rivera while the former congressman was allegedly helping Maduro launch a charm offensive in Washington.
Also likely to face scrutiny is Rodriguez, who has relied on Rivera to hold meetings in New York, Caracas, Washington and Dallas in an attempt to rally American support for normalizing relations with Venezuela — an effort that failed at the time but now appears within reach, albeit on uneven terms, following the ouster of Maduro and the rise of his government. More realistic assistant.
An 11-count indictment, unsealed in 2022, charges Rivera and his accomplice Money laundering and failure to register as a foreign agent.
Prosecutors allege that to hide his work, Rivera created an encrypted chat group called MIA — for Miami — with his main channel to Maduro’s government: Venezuelan media mogul Raúl Gorín, who was later appointed Charged in the United States with bribery Senior Venezuelan officials.
Members of the group used playful code words to discuss their activities: Maduro was the “bus driver,” Sessions was the “sombrero,” and he was the “watermelon” of millions of dollars, according to prosecutors.
Rivera, 60, denies any wrongdoing. His lawyers counter that his sole firm, Interamerican Consulting, was hired by a US subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company — not PDVSA itself — and therefore did not need to register as a foreign agent.
They say his consulting work focused on positioning Venezuelan-owned Citgo in the U.S. energy industry and was very different from his peacemaking efforts, which included working with Maduro opponents to achieve leadership less hostile toward the United States.
But the plaintiffs in A Parallel civil case Rivera was accused of doing less than promised and using the contract as a cover for illegal pressure. Of the nearly $20 million he received, $3.75 million went to a South Florida company that maintains Goren’s luxury yacht.
Rubio’s expected testimony is highly unusual — not since Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan He testified at a Mafia trial in 1983 A member of the president’s Cabinet took the stand in a criminal trial.
Although Rubio is not indicted and there is nothing in the indictment to suggest that he acted inappropriately as a senator at the time, prosecutors say Rivera was viewed as a key ally in his outreach to the White House. As for Rubio, prosecutors said at a pretrial hearing last week, the contact with Gorín provided a back channel to Caracas at a time when U.S. authorities discovered a potential death threat against him from Venezuelan Socialist Party head Diosdado Cabello.
Rivera and Rubio met at the senator’s Washington home on July 9, 2017, according to the indictment. The indictment says Rivera told Rubio that he was working with Gorín, who convinced Maduro to accept a deal under which he would hold free and fair elections.
“Remember, the United States must facilitate, not merely support, a negotiated solution,” the indictment reads. “Not for revenge, for reconciliation.”
After the second meeting between Rubio, Rivera, Goren and others, Rivera indicated in the chat that the bus driver – Maduro – would have to pay him for arranging the meeting with Rubio. Without the senator’s support, Rivera said, there would be “no turkey.”
But communication soon broke down. Later that month, Trump imposes sanctions on Maduro They described him as a “dictator” and launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to oust the president. Rubio has taken to the Venezuelan airwaves to press the White House’s agenda.
“For Nicolas Maduro, who I am sure is watching, the current path you are on will not end well for you,” Rubio said on July 31, 2017, in a rare 10-minute speech to the Venezuelan people broadcast on the Jorin network.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.
After signing the contract, Rivera and Goren arranged a meeting in New York City between Rodriguez, then Secretary of State and a member of the board of directors of Venezuela’s national oil company, and Sessions, whose Dallas-area district includes Exxon’s headquarters.
Later, Sessions tried to do just that Broker a meeting for Rodriguez With Darren Woods, who succeeded Trump’s then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as CEO of Exxon. Rodriguez was looking to resolve a long-running investment dispute and lure Exxon back to Venezuela in order to revive the OPEC nation’s collapsing oil industry. The meeting never took place as Exxon refused to communicate.
About a year after helping Rivera make inroads with Exxon, Sessions He secretly traveled to Caracas The indictment said that a meeting with Maduro was arranged by Gorín and Rivera. As part of the effort, Sessions also agreed to deliver a letter from the Venezuelan president to Trump.
The defense team also wanted Maduro and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to testify. Maduro, through a lawyer, said he would invoke his constitutional right to remain silent if forced, while prosecutors successfully quashed an attempt to subpoena Wiles, who was a registered lobbyist for Gorin’s Globovision network at the same time the media mogul was working with Rivera.
Before being elected to Congress in 2010, Rivera was a high-ranking Florida lawmaker. During that period, he shared a Tallahassee home with Rubio, who eventually became Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.
Rivera has previously faced controversy, including allegations that he… He secretly funded a corrupt Democratic candidate In a 2012 congressional race. Last year, federal prosecutors dropped the case after an appeals court overturned a large fine imposed by a lower court. Rivera was also investigated — but never charged — for campaign finance violations and a $1 million contract with a gambling company while serving in the Florida Legislature.
Rivera denied any wrongdoing and said both investigations were politically motivated.