Miami – There is tension and conflict in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba. But on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio found himself away from international conflicts and in a Miami courtroom.
Rubio was testifying this week in a federal criminal trial in Florida involving ex-GOP Rep. David Rivera, a former aide and longtime friend, who was accused of money laundering and secretly lobbying for the Venezuelan government.
Rivera, who has known Rubio since the mid-1990s, has created political difficulties for his friend over the years. And the trial is taking place during a key geopolitical moment for Venezuela, as the US moves forward with criminal proceedings against socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and tries to reshape the direction of the country’s oil sector.
At one point during his testimony Tuesday, Rubio said that his and Rivera’s discussions about Venezuela’s future reflected their consistent approach to the Latin American country.
He testified, “We are trying to prevent a civil war and see if we can transition there into a recovery phase that can lead to free and fair elections.”
Prosecutors allege that Rivera’s company received a $50 million consulting contract with a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company in order to force the Trump administration to scale back its hardline stance against the Latin American country.
Rubio testified that he did not know about the alleged consulting contract. Much of his three-hour testimony focused on a plan he discussed at two meetings in 2017 to oust Maduro. Rivera told Rubio that he had insiders who had convinced Maduro to step aside and call elections. He also shared that wealthy Venezuelan businessman Raul Gorín wanted to meet with Rubio to deliver a letter to him that was to go directly to President Donald Trump.
Rivera has pleaded not guilty in the case, saying he did not need to register as a foreign agent because he was working for a US subsidiary. His defense team tried to show that Rivera and Rubio were close politically and personally – and that Rivera’s history showed he was a staunch opponent of the socialist regime.
During his testimony, Rubio described Rivera as an “outspoken anti-communist voice” and “one of the leading voices against the Castro regime” in Cuba.
“It would have been shocking,” Rubio said of the allegation that Rivera might have worked for Maduro, whom he considered a friend.
Rubio testified that during their first meeting in 2017, Rivera showed him a bank account containing millions of dollars that Rivera said Gorín wanted to use to support the Venezuelan opposition party. Rubio acknowledged that he was skeptical of the arrangement at the time, explaining that it was not unusual for insiders to falsely claim that they could facilitate a change of power. But he said he decided that if there was “even one percent chance that it’s real,” he wanted to be helpful to the White House.
After his meeting with Rivera, Rubio took to the Senate floor to give a speech Regarding Venezuela – Rivera provided some “code words” over text message that Rubio should use to reassure members of the regime who were watching that the transfer of power would be peaceful and “not about retribution or revenge.” Encouraged by Rivera, Rubio did a second taping in Spanish for the TV network Globovision, which is owned by Gorín.
“Ironically, these words are very similar to what we are trying to achieve in Venezuela,” Rubio said.
But Rubio also testified that if he had known about the alleged consulting contract he would never have met with Rivera about Venezuela, nor given the speech in the Senate or on TV. He described the meeting with Gorin as brief and “a complete waste of my time” because the wealthy businessman did not give him a letter to Trump. Instead, he only talked about how serious the situation is in Venezuela.
After the meetings, Rubio testified that relations between the US and Venezuela further deteriorated as Maduro pushed for elections for a new Constituent Assembly, which Rubio called a “fake Congress”.
Rubio also faced questions about Rivera’s political adviser, Esther Nuphar, who was a fundraiser for Rubio’s Senate run and a friend of his wife. He testified that Nuhfar did not speak during the meeting with Rivera and that he knew she was a vocal critic of the communist and socialist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela.
Tuesday morning’s testimony doubled as a biography of sorts for Rubio, with the secretary of state explaining how — as the child of Cuban immigrants and a former elected official from a community of Latin American immigrants — he had taken an interest in the Western Hemisphere throughout his career, both personally and professionally.
Rubio and Rivera shared a Tallahassee home when he was a state legislator and were briefly roommates in Washington. When Rivera was a member of Congress, he faced campaign finance issues and allegations of election interference, which led to an investigation but no criminal charges. Still, the friendship was widely seen as a political liability for Rubio when he ran for president with then-candidate Trump in 2016. About running attack ads it.
Throughout Tuesday’s proceedings, Rubio either looked at the evidence in front of him or at the lawyers questioning him. Occasionally he glanced briefly at Rivera.
People in the packed courtroom laughed at some of Rubio’s responses, including saying during questions establishing his biography for the jury that he had “two jobs.” In a conversation about whether he used the messaging platform WhatsApp, Rubio said, “I like Signal” – a tacit reference to the first major scandal of the second Trump administration.
After Rubio answered questions, defense attorney Ed Shohat asked him to sign a copy of his 2012 memoir, “An American Son,” which he had used at questioning to show how Rivera’s name appeared in the confessions section.
“Is this allowed?” Rubio asked Judge Melissa Damien. “I don’t know,” Damien replied, laughing, as Rubio picked up a pen to release his signature.
Rivera’s defense team also wanted to call White House Chief of Staff Susie Wills to testify in the case, noting that she previously worked at the lobbying firm Ballard Partners when she represented Globovision. But the magistrate judge in the case rejected the request, citing his high-profile role.
Before Rubio came in for questioning Tuesday morning, lawyers also argued over some photos of Rubio and Rivera, showing Rubio’s children when they were very young. Damien, an appointee of President Joe Biden, joked that Rubio really wanted some photos included because “he’s so good looking.”
