A federal jury in Miami delivered guilty verdicts Friday against former Republican Representative David Rivera and political consultant Esther Nuhfer for their roles in an undisclosed $50 million influence campaign benefiting Venezuela’s government during Donald Trump’s first presidency.
The convictions encompass multiple charges, including violations of foreign agent registration requirements and conspiracy to launder money while working for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s administration.
Rivera maintained his stoic demeanor as jurors announced their decision, mirroring his behavior throughout the proceedings.
Despite previously being released on bail, Rivera was immediately detained after Judge Melissa Damian determined he presented an escape risk due to his substantial financial resources, potential lengthy imprisonment, and pending federal charges in Washington, D.C., connected to similar foreign lobbying violations.
The seven-week proceedings provided an unusual window into Miami’s position as a hub for international influence operations targeting U.S. Latin American policy, emphasizing the city’s status as a center for both corruption and anti-Communist activism within its substantial exile community.
Testimony came from notable figures including Rubio, Texas Representative Pete Sessions, and a prominent Washington lobbyist — all expressing surprise upon discovering Rivera’s consulting agreement with a domestic subsidiary of Venezuela’s national oil corporation, PDVSA.
According to an 11-count federal indictment made public in 2022, Rivera was recruited by then-Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez — currently Venezuela’s acting president — to leverage his Republican congressional relationships to persuade Trump’s first administration to soften its aggressive position and reduce devastating economic sanctions against Venezuela.
Federal prosecutors contended that Rivera and Nuhfer manipulated prominent contacts, including Rubio and Sessions, treating them like “pawns on a chess board” in their influence campaign. Their objective was normalizing diplomatic ties with Trump’s team while the Maduro administration faced severe human rights allegations.
“As long as the money kept coming in, they didn’t care from where,” prosecutor Roger Cruz told jurors during final arguments regarding the defendants.
However, the pair maintained their “massive secret” and failed to report their lobbying activities as legally required, fearing disclosure would destroy Rivera’s political reputation as an anti-Communist leader, Cruz explained.
To conceal his activities, federal authorities claim Rivera established an encrypted messaging group named MIA — representing Miami — with his primary connection to Maduro’s government: Venezuelan media mogul Raúl Gorrín, who later faced U.S. bribery charges for corrupting top Venezuelan officials.
Group participants employed coded language for their operations: Maduro became the “bus driver,” Sessions was “Sombrero,” Rodríguez was “The Lady in Red,” and millions of dollars were “melons,” based on text message evidence shown to jurors.
“It was all about La Luz,” Cruz stated, referencing the Spanish term for light, which Rivera’s group repeatedly used when discussing payments from Caracas.
Defense lawyers for Rivera and Nuhfer argued their clients operated honestly and believed disclosure wasn’t necessary. They claimed the three-month, $50 million agreement with Rivera’s individual consulting business exclusively focused on encouraging oil corporation ExxonMobil to return to Venezuela — commercial activity typically excluded from Foreign Agents Registration Act requirements.
They maintained Rivera’s discussions with Rubio and Sessions were completely separate from his consulting work, occurring after the contract ended and aimed at promoting Venezuelan leadership change that would improve U.S. relations.
“He was working every possible angle to get Nicolás Maduro out,” defense attorney Ed Shohat argued in closing statements. “There was not a word in the chats about normalizing relations.”
Nuhfer’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, compared the prosecution’s case to Salem’s 17th-century witch trials, suggesting prosecutors assumed malicious intent based on weak evidence.
“My client does not have a dark heart,” he declared.
Federal prosecutors maintained Rivera exploited his contract with New York-based PDV USA to disguise illegal lobbying activities.
After exposure, the defendants attempted concealing their work by falsifying document dates and creating fraudulent agreements, including one justifying a $3.75 million wire transfer to a South Florida business managing Gorrín’s luxury yacht.
Their political activities included arranging Rodríguez meetings in New York, Caracas, Washington and Dallas. During this effort, they involved Sessions, who later attempted facilitating a meeting between Rodríguez and ExxonMobil’s CEO, who had succeeded Trump’s former secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Following a private Caracas meeting with Maduro, Sessions also agreed to deliver correspondence from the Venezuelan president to Trump.
The outreach effort collapsed rapidly. Within six months of assuming office, Trump imposed sanctions on Maduro and branded him a “dictator,” initiating a “maximum pressure” strategy to remove the president.
Nevertheless, nearly ten years later, Rodríguez has become the second Trump administration’s reliable partner following the U.S. military’s removal of Maduro.
Prior to his 2010 congressional election, Rivera served as a senior Florida state legislator. During that period, he lived with Rubio in Tallahassee, who later became Florida House speaker.
Rivera’s past includes various controversies, such as accusations of secretly financing a Democratic spoiler candidate in a 2012 congressional election. Federal prosecutors dismissed that case last year after an appeals court overturned a substantial fine from a lower court. Rivera also faced investigation — though no charges — for alleged campaign finance violations and a $1 million gambling company contract while serving in Florida’s legislature.
