MIAMI — David Rivera may no longer be an elected politician, but he sounded like one when he emerged Tuesday from his first federal court appearance in Miami on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent for the Venezuelan government.
Rivera, a Republican who served one term as a Miami congressman a decade ago, is accused of accepting $20 million in consulting fees from a U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan government’s state-owned oil company that federal prosecutors say was actually a fig leaf for lobbying on behalf of Venezuela and its authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.
“Anybody that knows me knows that what the government is alleging is completely false and completely absurd,” Rivera said on the steps of the federal courthouse. “I’ve spent my entire adult life fighting for freedom and democracy not only in Cuba but for many years in Venezuela as well. And we look forward to proving that in court.”
