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On May 1, 2026 a federal jury in Miami found former Florida Congressman David Rivera guilty after a five-week trial of conspiracy to violate FARA, failure to register under FARA, and other crimes. Esther Nuhfer, one of Rivera’s associates, was convicted of the same FARA offenses.

Rivera served as a representative of Florida’s 25th congressional district from 2011 to 2013. Shortly after his time in Congress, Rivera began consulting, and in 2017, he is alleged to have entered into a $50M contract with a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned and controlled oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). Through this contract, prosecutors asserted that Rivera and Nuhfer agreed to lobby members of Congress and the White House to improve U.S.-Venezuela relations during the first Trump administration and met with several U.S. officials throughout 2017 and 2018.

The contract allegedly generated about $20M in earnings before its termination. Rivera split this total with Nuhfer and two other individuals who were not charged in this case.

Rivera’s defense argued that he was not acting as a foreign agent of the Venezuelan government because his contract was with PDV USA, a U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA, and therefore believed that he and Nuhfer were not required to disclose their work. The defense further claimed that Rivera’s lobbying was focused on bringing the oil giant ExxonMobil back to Venezuela, commercial work that would generally be exempt from FARA under the Trade or Commerce Exemption at 22 U.S.C. § 613(d)(1).

Prosecutors, however, argued that because PDV USA operated under the direction of PDVSA and, therefore, the Venezuelan government, it was a “foreign principal” and work for PDV USA required registration under FARA. Government evidence also showed that Rivera and Nuhfer frequently communicated via coded messages, using names like “bus driver” for President Maduro and “melons” for millions of dollars. This evidence was used to argue that the defendants acted willfully, a required element for criminal liability under FARA.

Following the jury’s guilty verdict, Rivera faces up to 60 years in prison and Nuhfer faces up to 30 years. Their sentencing is scheduled for July 20, 2026.

Special thanks to Sonja de Jong for assistance on this blog piece. 

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