Former Congressman David Rivera has been convicted in a case related to secret lobbying in Venezuela

MIAMI (AP) — A former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was convicted Friday in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on behalf of Venezuela during Trump’s first administration.

The jury found Republican David Rivera and his assistant guilty of all charges, including failure to register as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of their work for the government of former President Nicolas Maduro.

Read more: Trump ally testifies in trial about secret lobbying efforts in Venezuela

The seven-week trial offered a rare glimpse into Miami’s role as a crossroads for foreign influence campaigns aimed at shaping U.S. policy toward Latin America, highlighting the city’s reputation as a magnet for corruption and anti-communist crusaders among its large exiled population.

It included testimony from Rubio, Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, and a top Washington lobbyist — all of whom testified that they were shocked when they belatedly learned of Rivera’s consulting contract with a US-based affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA.

In an 11-count indictment unsealed in 2022, prosecutors alleged that then-Secretary of State Delcy Rodriguez — now Venezuela’s acting president — tapped Rivera to work on connections with Republicans from Rivera’s time in Congress to convince the first Trump administration to abandon its hard-line stance and ease crippling sanctions on Venezuela.

Read more: Rubio will testify in the trial of a former congressman accused of secretly lobbying for Venezuela

As part of the charm offensive, prosecutors alleged that Rivera and his co-defendant, political consultant Esther Nover, manipulated influential friends, including Rubio and Sessions, like “pawns on a chessboard.” The goal: to try to normalize relations with the new Trump administration at a time when the Maduro government is under serious accusations of human rights violations.

“As long as the money kept coming in, they didn’t care where it came from,” prosecutor Roger Cruz said of the defendants during closing arguments.

The “massive secret” threatened to damage Rivera’s political career

But Cruz said the two kept a “huge secret” and did not disclose their lobbying work as required, fearing it would end Rivera’s political career as an anti-communist.

To hide his work, prosecutors allege, Rivera also created an encrypted chat group called MIA — for Miami — with his main channel to Maduro’s government: Venezuelan media mogul Raul Gorín, who was later charged in the United States with bribing top Venezuelan officials.

Members of the group used playful code words to discuss their activities: Maduro was the “bus driver,” Sessions was the “sombrero,” Rodriguez was the “lady in red,” and he was “watermelon” with millions of dollars, according to copies of text messages provided to the jury.

“It was all about ‘la luz,’” Cruz said, referring to the Spanish word for light, which Rivera and others used repeatedly to discuss payments from Caracas.

Lawyers for Rivera and Nofer said the two acted in good faith and believed they were not obligated to disclose their work. The three-month, $50 million contract with Rivera Consulting, they say, focuses exclusively on luring oil giant ExxonMobil back to Venezuela — a business generally exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

They say Rivera’s meetings with Rubio and Sessions were very different from this consulting work, which occurred after the consulting contract ended and focused on arriving at leadership in Venezuela that would be less hostile toward the United States.

“He was working at every possible angle to get Nicolas Maduro out,” defense attorney Ed Shohat said during closing arguments. “There was not a word in the chats about normalizing relations.”

Nover’s lawyer, David Oscar Marcus, likened the government’s case to the 17th-century Salem witch trials, positing bad faith belied by the least obvious evidence.

“My client does not have a dark heart,” he said.

Exxon meetings for Rodriguez

Prosecutors said Rivera used the contract with New York-based PDV USA as a cover for illegal lobbying.

Once the matter was exposed, the partners tried to cover up the business — backdating documents and reaching phony agreements such as one justifying a $3.75 million bank transfer to a South Florida company that was maintaining Goren’s luxury yacht.

Political activity included meetings for Rodriguez in New York, Caracas, Washington, and Dallas. As part of the effort, the two teamed up with Sessions, who later tried to broker a meeting for Rodriguez with ExxonMobil CEO who succeeded Trump’s then-Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson. After a secret meeting in Caracas with Maduro, Sessions also agreed to deliver a letter from the Venezuelan president to Trump.

But communication soon broke down. Within six months of taking office, Trump imposed sanctions on Maduro, called him a “dictator,” and launched a “maximum pressure” campaign to oust the president.

However, nearly a decade later, Rodriguez has emerged as a trusted second partner to the Trump administration after the U.S. military ousted Maduro.

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 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 alleged campaign finance violations and a $1 million contract with a gambling company while serving in the Florida Legislature.