Former GOP Rep. David Rivera sentenced to 10 years for secret Venezuela lobbying

David Rivera, a former Republican congressman from Miami and longtime friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, received a 10-year prison sentence Friday for running an undisclosed $50 million influence campaign for Venezuela during President Donald Trump's first term. Jurors had returned guilty verdicts in May on every charge, among them acting as an unregistered foreign agent and money laundering conspiracy, and Rivera has been in custody since. Judge Melissa Damian told him that a similar payment from Cuba's government would have been condemned by his friends, and she called the case a classic example of money laundering, according to PBS NewsHour.

Prosecutors said Delcy Rodríguez, then Venezuela's foreign minister and now its acting president, enlisted Rivera to lean on Republican contacts, including Rubio and Rep. Pete Sessions, to soften U.S. sanctions. Rivera and co-defendant Esther Nuhfer concealed the work through backdated paperwork and sham agreements, and used an encrypted chat group with media tycoon Raúl Gorrín, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Ed Shohat argued the contract concerned bringing ExxonMobil back to Venezuela, which he said made it lawful commercial work. Rivera's lawyers will appeal and have sought a presidential pardon. He also faces related charges in Washington.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →