New charges target ex-Miami congressman for lobbying on behalf of sanctioned Venezuelan tycoon

MIAMI (AP) — A federal grand jury in Washington has returned an indictment against former Congressman David Rivera for failing to register as a foreign agent of a sanctioned Venezuelan media tycoon on whose behalf the Miami Republican allegedly lobbied the Trump administration.

The indictment is the second set of criminal charges to examine Rivera's relationship with Raúl Gorrín, a billionaire businessman charged in 2018 and again in 2024 with bribing senior Venezuelan officials in corrupt deals to embezzle state funds from Nicolas Maduro's administration.

The indictment unsealed on Wednesday alleges that Rivera, between June 2019 and April 2020, lobbied U.S. officials, including an unnamed senior official in the executive branch, to remove sanctions against Gorrín.

Rivera was allegedly aided in that effort by another unnamed former U.S. official and resident of New York, who he allegedly paid $125,000 from the over $5.5 million he received from Gorrín or on his behalf, prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department's National Security Division said.

Rivera was charged with money laundering and failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, as required when lobbying U.S. officials on behalf of foreign individuals and companies.

To promote his criminal activities, Rivera allegedly created fake shell companies registered in Delaware using names associated with a law firm and with the unnamed official, as well as the official's hometown, to give the false appearance that the shell companies were legitimate, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said the official was unaware the companies were using his or her name and hometown.

Ed Shohat, a Miami defense attorney who represents Rivera, declined to comment, saying he hadn't had time to discuss the indictment with his client.

Rivera was arrested in 2022 in another illegal lobbying case, out of federal court in Miami, tied to a $50 million consulting contract his firm, Interamerican Consulting, signed with a U.S. affiliate of Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA. Prosecutors say the 2017 contract was a ruse to hide a secret campaign by Maduro's government to curry favor with the incoming Trump administration.

The Maduro outreach, at the same time Trump's current incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles was working as a lobbyist for Gorrín's TV network Globovision, ultimately failed. In 2019, Trump recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and imposed stiff oil sanctions on the OPEC nation in a bid to unseat Maduro.

But before the charm offensive unraveled, Gorrín, with the help of Rivera and others, managed to get his photo taken shaking hands with then-Vice President Mike Pence at an event in Florida. Rivera and Gorrín also met with Trump's pick to become Secretary of State, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who was once Rivera's roommate when both were state lawmakers in Tallahassee.

Rivera also looked to set up a possible flight and meeting on Gorrín's jet for a female campaign adviser turned White House “counselor” on June 27, 2017, according to court records in the earlier criminal complaint and a parallel lawsuit filed against Rivera by Maduro’s opponents who now control the U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA. That same day Trump aide Kellyanne Conway was in Miami for a fundraising dinner with Miami Republicans.

Conway told The Associated Press she did not take any private flight and that she and her security detail flew commercial round trip to Miami for the event. All travel arrangements were made by the U.S. Secret Service, she added.

Rivera also roped in Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas to try and set up a meeting for Venezuela’s foreign minister with executives from Exxon, which was headquartered in Sessions’ district at the time.

Rivera, who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013, has been embroiled in several election-related controversies, including orchestrating the stealth funding of an unknown Democratic candidate to take on his main rival in a South Florida congressional race and a state investigation into whether he hid a $1 million contract with a gambling company. That probe also involved possible misuse of campaign funds to pay for state House activities already reimbursed by the state.

He has denied any illegal lobbying on behalf of Venezuela's government and has countersued Maduro's opponents in federal court.