David Rivera taken into custody after conviction for secretly lobbying for Venezuela
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 1
David Rivera taken into custody after conviction for secretly lobbying for Venezuela
13 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 1
A Miami federal jury found the former Florida congressman guilty of conspiracy and five other crimes tied to 2017-18 lobbying, and Judge Melissa Damian ordered U.S. marshals to detain him.
Prosecutors said Venezuela's state oil company paid Rivera's consulting firm $50 million to press Congress and the White House for warmer US-Venezuela relations.
Rivera, a Republican who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013, was also convicted of failing to register as a foreign agent and money laundering, and faces about 10 years in prison.
Why weren't two others who split $20 million in the Venezuelan lobbying scheme charged alongside the former congressman?
What new legal risks do American companies with foreign state ownership face after this landmark foreign agent conviction?
He was convicted for seeking a policy thaw that later happened. Was he a criminal or just ahead of his time?