Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified in the federal trial of former U.S. Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.), who is accused of secretly lobbying on behalf of Venezuela’s government. Rubio, a longtime friend of Rivera, confirmed their close relationship during their overlapping tenure in the Florida Legislature. Prosecutors allege Rivera leveraged his connection to Rubio to gain access to the White House, though Rubio has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Rivera and his co-defendant, Esther Nuhfer, were charged in 2022 with money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent after securing a $50 million lobbying contract from Nicolás Maduro’s government. The indictment claims they attempted to arrange meetings for Venezuelan officials with U.S. government and corporate leaders, including Rubio and former White House advisor Kellyanne Conway.
During his testimony, Rubio recounted a 2017 meeting where Rivera discussed a plan to persuade Maduro to step aside. Rubio said he was skeptical but open to alerting the White House if the plan had merit. He later delivered a Senate speech signaling U.S. willingness to avoid retribution against Venezuelan insiders who worked to remove Maduro. The indictment does not allege Rubio acted improperly.
Rivera and Nuhfer are accused of setting up a chat group to cloak their activities. Prosecutors claim the pair used Rivera’s political connections to influence U.S. policy toward Venezuela, though Rubio’s testimony did not implicate him in any illegal conduct.