Marco Rubio testifies in former housemate’s Maduro lobbying trial

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Marco Rubio has not been accused of wrongdoing in the case of former friend and housemate David Rivera.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has testified in the trial of a former congressman accused of lobbying on behalf of Venezuela’s government, becoming the first serving cabinet member to take the stand in a criminal trial since 1983.

Prosecutors say former congressman from Miami David Rivera illegally worked on behalf of Nicolás Maduro’s government to influence the first Trump administration in the hopes of easing sanctions.

Rivera and a co-conspirator, Esther Nuhfer, were indicted in 2022 on money-laundering charges and for failing to register with the US government as a foreign agent.

He has denied any wrongdoing in the case, and Rubio has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

According to federal prosecutors in Florida, Rivera and Nuhfer received a $50m (£37.4m) contract for three months of work on behalf of a US-based subsidiary of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, which is also known as Citgo.

The indictment alleges that, at the Venezuelan government’s behest, the pair attempted to lobby Rubio - then still a senator and former housemate of Rivera’s - as well as Kellyanne Conway, a prominent former White House advisor.

“The case is about two things: greed and betrayal,” prosecutor Roger Cruz said during opening statements. “The evidence will show that for $50m, these two defendants made a pact to secretly lobby for Nicolás Maduro, the communist dictator, and his second in command, Delcy Rodriguez.”

Rodriguez became acting president of Venezuela following Maduro’s capture by US forces in January this year.

While Rivera and Nuhfer were unable to secure a meeting with Conway, they allegedly arranged two separate meetings with Rubio, with whom Rivera served in the Florida state legislature.

Rubio arrived in court on Tuesday morning, and elicited laughs from those in attendance when he was asked by a prosecutor if he is employed.

“I have two jobs,” Rubio responded. “I am the secretary of state of the United States and the president’s national security advisor.”

While Rubio has acknowledged a friendship with Rivera, he has denied any involvement in the scheme.

“He’s someone I’ve known for a long time,” Rubio told CBS news, the BBC’s US partner, in an interview before the trial. “We’ve worked closely together but not on this, and there’s not a single person claiming otherwise.”

Rivera has denied any criminal wrongdoing and his lawyers have argued that his lobbying work was exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act because it was aimed at returning US oil giant Exxon back to Venezuela to help revive the industry.

“This is like a murder case without a murder,” defence attorney Ed Shohat said in court on Tuesday.

The last US cabinet member to testify in a criminal case was Labour Secretary Raymond Donovan, who testified in a mafia trial in 1983 during the Reagan administration.

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