A grand jury in Washington has returned an indictment against former Congressman David Rivera for failing to register as a foreign agent of a sanctioned Venezuelan media tycoon on whose behalf the Miami Republican allegedly lobbied the Trump administration.

Former U.S. congressman David Rivera has been indicted by a grand jury in the District of Columbia in a scheme to “violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and to launder funds to conceal and promote his criminal conduct,” the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday in a news release.

A federal judge in Miami blasted prosecutors for an attempt to undercut a court order and try to take control of an oceanside condo belonging to a former Republican congressman ahead of a high-profile trial connected to a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s government.

Former congressman David Rivera spoke to Local 10 News last year about the multi-million dollar deal involving Venezuela’s oil company at the center of his indictment and arrest.

Federal authorities arrested ex-Rep. David Rivera, who represented parts of the Miami area in Congress from 2011 to 2013, on Monday, officials said.

A former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government was arrested Monday on charges of money laundering and representing a foreign government without registering.

New filings in a civil suit allege that a former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government not only did no apparent work, but also channeled a large chunk of the money to a yacht company on behalf of a fugitive billionaire.

New filings in a civil suit allege that a former Miami congressman who signed a $50 million consulting contract with Venezuela’s socialist government not only did no apparent work, but also channeled a large chunk of the money to a yacht company on behalf of a fugitive billionaire.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, hosts Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg are joined by State Sen. Shevrin Jones, State Rep. Chip LaMarca, Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres and chair of Miami-Dade County’s Independent Civilian Panel Loreal Arscott.

On the latest episode of the This Week in South Florida podcast, hosts Glenna Milberg and Michael Putney are joined by Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, Mayte Canino of Planned Parenthood, Parkland parent and activist Tony Montalto and Miami politician David Rivera.

On the latest episode of This Week in South Florida, hosts Glenna Milberg and Michael Putney are joined by Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, Mayte Canino of Planned Parenthood, Parkland parent and activist Tony Montalto and Miami politician David Rivera.

David Rivera has been a fixture in Miami politics for more than 30 years, and not always for the right reasons.

Knowledgeable sources and message exchanges reveal that Venezuela’s government quietly offered last year to release imprisoned Americans in exchange for the U.S. letting go a key financier of President Nicolás Maduro.

Police departments in 2021 are desperate for positive press.

(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)MIAMI – Newly filed lobbying records show Venezuela’s socialist government previously hired a longtime Democratic Party donor for $6 million at the same time it was lobbying to discourage the U.S. from imposing sanctions on the oil-rich nation. Federal prosecutors in Miami are also investigating whether the Republican broke foreign lobbying rules. Payments came from a little-known, Delaware-registered subsidiary, PDV USA, which provided shareholder services to PDVSA independent of Citgo's oil operations. “Wiss was engaged to provide PDV USA and its affiliates with legal services only,” she wrote in an e-mailed response to questions. PDV USA said Wiss provided updates on disputes involving PDVSA and advice on immigration, insurance, and cryptocurrency.

The purpose: to lure Exxon back to Venezuela after a decade's absence and inject much-needed dynamism into the OPEC nation's collapsing oil industry. But Sessions did engage in other mediation efforts in Venezuela over the next 15 months. The earlier email regarding Exxon and his connection to Rivera was not known at the time. The five-sentence message sent to Sessions' personal email address, which starts with the word eagle," is short on specifics. The U.S. Department of State would be your best resource for any information regarding contacts made with Venezuela, a spokesman said.

Guaid said Monday, May 11, 2020 that two U.S.-based political advisers have resigned following a failed incursion into Venezuela aimed at capturing President Nicols Maduro. In exchange, officials paid Gonzlez $20 million between 2014 and 2018 to provide goods and services to Citgo's parent company, PDVSA, at inflated prices. "Citgo lost millions of dollars as a result," the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit follows a similar complaint filed by Citgo two weeks ago against former Miami congressman David Rivera for allegedly breaking a $50 million consulting contract with PDVSA. To date, 28 individuals have been charged as part of the ongoing probe by prosecutors in Houston, Miami and Washington.