Former US congressman convicted of secretly lobbying for Venezuela
by Luc Cohen reuters · KSL.comNEW YORK — Former U.S. Congressman David Rivera was found guilty on Friday of illegally lobbying U.S. officials to ease pressure on ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government.
Rivera's conviction came after a six-week trial in federal court in Miami, which featured testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rivera, a Republican who represented southern Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, pleaded not guilty. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors said Rivera lobbied U.S. officials on behalf of Venezuela's government in 2017 without registering as a foreign lobbyist as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
He was paid $20 million by the U.S. subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned company, prosecutors said.
Rivera's lawyers argued he was working to help Venezuela's opposition remove Maduro from power, not benefit his government.
Rubio testified that Rivera did not tell him that he had a contract with oil refiner Citgo, a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, when he took a meeting with Rivera about Venezuela in 2017. Rubio was a U.S. senator at the time.
Asked by a prosecutor what his reaction would have been at the time if he learned that Rivera was working with Maduro's government, Rubio said, "It would have been shocking to me."
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