A federal jury in Miami found former Representative David Rivera guilty on Friday of all counts stemming from a covert lobbying operation aimed at softening U.S. sanctions against Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro's regime.
Rivera, a Florida Republican who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013, was convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, money laundering conspiracy, and tax evasion. He had secretly accepted a $50 million contract to lobby American officials on behalf of a U.S.-based subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.
The trial lasted five weeks and heard testimony from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, and Washington-based lobbyists. Both men testified they were blindsided when they discovered Rivera was secretly working for Venezuelan interests while leveraging their longstanding friendship and professional relationships to advance his agenda.
Prosecutors laid out a detailed scheme. In 2017, Rivera and his associate Esther Nuhfer, who was also convicted, attempted to orchestrate meetings in the United States for then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez, who now serves as Venezuela's acting president. The Justice Department argued that the ultimate objective was to build political momentum in Washington for normalized relations between the two countries.
The case centers on Rivera's manipulation of powerful connections from his congressional days. When Rubio was serving in the Senate, Rivera met with him in 2017 and claimed he was working on a plan to persuade Maduro to resign. Shortly afterward, Rubio delivered a Senate floor speech signaling that the U.S. would not punish Venezuelan government officials who moved against Maduro.
During his testimony, Rubio told jurors that Rivera had provided him with language designed to appeal to regime insiders considering a shift in power. "No vengeance, no retribution," Rubio recounted, describing what Rivera had suggested the Maduro government wanted to hear from Washington to take such steps seriously.
Rivera's defense team argued throughout the proceeding that his work was legitimate, focused on commercial interests, anti-communist advocacy, or democracy promotion efforts in the region. The jury rejected those claims on all counts.
Judge Melissa Damian ordered Rivera remanded into custody immediately following the verdict Friday. He faces sentencing that could result in substantial prison time. The former congressman also confronts additional federal charges in Washington related to the same foreign lobbying operation.
Rivera, a former Florida state legislator before his House service, had also been the longtime roommate and close personal friend of Rubio, a relationship that prosecutors suggested he weaponized to access corridors of power in the Trump administration and Congress.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "This verdict exposes how former elected officials can weaponize personal relationships to serve foreign interests, and it's a stark reminder that Capitol connections don't shield you from the law."
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