New charges target ex-Miami congressman for lobbying on behalf of sanctioned Venezuelan tycoon

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. The indictment is the second criminal complaint to examine Rivera’s relationship to Raúl Gorrín, a billionaire businessman charged in 2018 and again in 2024 with bribing senior Venezuelan officials. The indictment unsealed on Wednesday alleges that Rivera, starting in 2019, lobbied an unnamed senior official in the Trump administration to remove sanctions against Gorrín.