MIAMI — A federal jury in Miami on May 1, 2026, convicted former U.S. Rep. David Rivera in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on behalf of Venezuela during the first Trump administration. Jurors found Rivera, a Republican, and political consultant Esther Nuhfer guilty on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of their work for former President Nicolás Maduro's government.

The verdict followed a seven-week trial that included testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, and a top Washington lobbyist, all of whom said they were shocked to learn belatedly of Rivera's consulting contract with a U.S.-based affiliate of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA.

In an 11-count indictment unsealed in 2022, prosecutors alleged that then Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez tapped Rivera to leverage his Republican connections from his time in Congress to persuade the first Trump administration to abandon its hard-line stance and ease sanctions on Venezuela. The three-month, $50 million contract with Rivera's consulting firm focused exclusively on luring ExxonMobil back to Venezuela. Prosecutors said Rivera used the contract with New York-based PDV USA as cover for illegal lobbying.

Rivera set up an encrypted chat group called MIA with Venezuelan media tycoon Raúl Gorrín, who was subsequently charged in the U.S. with bribing top Venezuelan officials, as his main conduit to the Maduro government. Members of the group used code words referring to Maduro as "bus driver", Sessions as "Sombrero", Rodríguez as "The Lady in Red", and millions of dollars as "melons". Rivera and others repeatedly used the Spanish word "La Luz" to discuss payments from Caracas.

After exposure, Rivera and Nuhfer tried to hide their work by backdating documents and creating sham agreements, including one to justify a $3.75 million wire transfer to a South Florida company that maintained Gorrín's luxury yacht. "As long as the money kept coming in, they didn't care from where," prosecutor Roger Cruz said during closing arguments.

Attorneys for Rivera and Nuhfer said they acted in good faith and believed they were under no requirement to disclose their work. Commercial consulting work is generally exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act. "He was working every possible angle to get Nicolás Maduro out," defense attorney Ed Shohat said during closing arguments. Defense attorney David Oscar Markus said, "My client does not have a dark heart," and likened the case to the Salem witch trials.

Rivera's meetings with Rubio and Sessions occurred after his consulting contract had expired and focused on ushering in leadership in Venezuela that would be less hostile to the U.S. Sessions tried to broker a meeting for Rodríguez with the CEO of ExxonMobil, and after a secret meeting in Caracas with Maduro, Sessions agreed to deliver a letter from the Venezuelan president to President Trump.

Before his election to Congress in 2010, Rivera was a high-ranking Florida legislator and shared a Tallahassee home with Rubio, who later became Florida House speaker. Rivera faced allegations that he secretly funded a Democratic spoiler candidate in a 2012 congressional race; federal prosecutors dropped that case last year after an appeals court threw out a fine that had been imposed by a lower court. He was also investigated but never charged for alleged campaign finance violations and for a $1 million contract with a gambling company while serving in the Florida legislature.