Former Florida GOP congressman arrested, charged with secret lobbying on behalf of Venezuela

David Rivera in 2010
(Image credit: Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images)

Federal agents arrested former Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) at Atlanta's international airport on Monday and charged him with money laundering and working on behalf of Venezuela as an unregistered foreign agent. Rivera and his former political consultant Esther Nuhfer, also charged Monday, signed a $50 million contract with Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) in early 2017 to lobby on behalf of Venezuela's authoritarian government and try to convince Congress and the new Trump administration to normalize relations and end U.S. sanctions, according to an eight-count indictment handed down by a Miami federal grand jury.

"Rivera, who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013 after a career in the State Legislature, is Cuban American and known in Florida politics as a strident anti-communist," The New York Times reports. His contract with socialist Venezuela came to light in 2000 when PDVSA's U.S. affiliate, PDV USA, sued him for doing no work despite being paid $23.75 million of his $50 million contract. Rivera countersued, saying PDV USA still owed him $30 million. Those cases are still pending, the Times reports.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.