Former Florida congressman David Rivera advised a Venezuelan businessman to mislead reporters about a 2017 meeting with then–Vice President Mike Pence, according to evidence presented at Rivera's federal trial in Miami where prosecutors seek to demonstrate that he and his associates concealed what they describe as a broader lobbying effort tied to Venezuela's government.
In one email exchange revealed in the trial, Rivera instructed businessman Raúl Gorrín to deny to the Miami Herald that he had participated in any lobbying or private meeting with Pence. Instead, Rivera suggested Gorrín say their interaction occurred publicly at an event at Florida International University, not during a private breakfast in Miami.
