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Rubio to testify in trial of former roommate accused of secretly lobbying for Venezuela
Marco Rubio will testify in a rare event with a sitting Cabinet member in a criminal trial involving a $50 million lobbying contract linked to Venezuela, prosecutors said.
- On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to testify in the federal trial of former Congressman David Rivera, who faces charges of money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent for Venezuela.
- Prosecutors allege Rivera signed a $50 million contract in 2017 with a Venezuelan oil subsidiary to secretly lobby for easing U.S. sanctions, leveraging his decades-old friendship with Rubio to gain access to the White House.
- Evidence presented Monday includes encrypted chats using code words—Maduro as the "bus driver," millions as "melons"—to track Rivera's receipt of roughly $20 million while orchestrating back-channel meetings for the regime.
- Rubio's appearance marks the first time a sitting Cabinet member has testified in a criminal trial since Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan in 1983, underscoring the legal significance prosecutors attach to his sworn account.
- Defense attorneys argue Rivera's consulting work was legitimate, claiming "not one single policy of the U.S. was impacted," while prosecutors frame the case as a test of foreign-lobbying enforcement against covert influence campaigns.
106 Articles
106 Articles
Rubio reveals what he knew about friend accused of secretly lobbying for Venezuela
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified Tuesday in a federal criminal case involving his once-roommate and friend, former Rep. David Rivera, saying during cross-examination that he did not know about Rivera's alleged crimes, CBS News reported. Rivera has been accused of secretly lobbying for the Ve...
Marco Rubio Asked To Sign Book During Court Testimony
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked in court on Tuesday to autograph an attorney’s book following testimony in a case involving his longtime friend, former Republican congressman David Rivera. Rubio appeared in a Miami court on Tuesday morning, where he gave testimony about his relationship to Rivera and their work in opposing Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, who is now in custody in the United States a…
Marco Rubio Spent Hours Testifying About Getting Dragged Into Shadow Diplomacy With Venezuela
The secretary of state testified for more than three hours at a criminal trial in Miami on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Susan Walsh/APMIAMI — Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s three-hour testimony at a Florida trial on Tuesday was supposed to elucidate his relationship with former Republican Rep. David Rivera, who is accused of striking a $50 million deal to engage in what federal prosecutors have called “a secret political influence campaign”…
Miami, United States. The head of U.S. diplomacy, Marco Rubio, appeared Tuesday as a witness in the trial of an old friend accused of secretly lobbying for the government of Venezuela during the first administration of Donald Trump.David Rivera, a 60-year-old Republican who was Florida state legislator and later represented that state in the U.S. House of Representatives, is tried in a Miami federal court for alleged illegal lobbying between Feb…
Rubio testifies in trial of ex-Florida congressman allegedly hired by Maduro government to lobby for Venezuela
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is testifying in the trial of ex-congressman David Rivera, who is charged with money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has stated this Tuesday in a Miami court that a long-standing friend of his, former congressman David Rivera, did not inform him that he had a $50 million contract with the U.S. refinery Citgo, a subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, when they both held a meeting on the Caribbean country in 2017.Continue reading
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