MIAMI (WSVN) - A former congressman appeared before a judge as his trial continued in a Miami courtroom.
It was a very different scene in downtown Miami as David Rivera arrived to the federal courthouse, Wednesday morning. 7News cameras captured less security in the area and people in the courtroom but the trial was full steam ahead.
Cameras captured Rivera walking into the courtroom on Wednesday morning.
A day before, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Rivera’s former roommate and friend, appeared in a packed courtroom, testifying he did not know anything about the allegations that the ex-lawmaker lobbied on behalf of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
A courtroom sketch artist captured the moment Rubio took the stand in a criminal trial, the first time a sitting member of the president’s cabinet has done so in more than 40 years.
Rivera and an associate were charged in 2022 with money laundering and failing to register as a foreign agent.
The charges were filed after, prosecutors said, Rivera received a $50 million dollar lobbying contract from then-leader Maduro.
Prosecutors allege that the contract was part of a scheme to convince the White House to decrease sanctions on Maduro’s regime.
The first person who took the stand Wednesday was Jeffrey Gilday, a program analyst for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Unit.
Some of Gilday’s responsibilities included publicly documenting what work someone is doing on behalf of a foreign country, for how long and how much money was involved.
During Gilday’s testimony, he stated official records showed Rivera had never submitted any paperwork that disclosed his ties to Venezuela, nor did he ask for an exemption at any point in time.
During cross-examination, Rivera’s attorneys argued how other documents required by FARA are vague in disclosing the work being done. They also said the contract Rivera received was exclusively meant to lure Exxon Mobil back to Venezuela, which would be exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
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