Trump ally testifies in trial over secret Venezuela lobbying effort
Source: AP
Updated 6:29 PM EDT, April 1, 2026
MIAMI (AP) — A top Washington lobbyist who is closely allied with President Donald Trump testified in federal court that he immediately cut ties with former Congressman David Rivera when he learned in 2020 that Venezuela’s government had awarded the Miami Republican a $50 million contract, shattering his belief that they were both working to hasten Nicolás Maduro ’s downfall.
Brian Ballard has been, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a star witness at Rivera’s trial in Miami on charges he secretly lobbied for Maduro’s government without registering as a foreign agent.
The trial has offered a glimpse into the prehistory of Maduro’s ouster, involving covert lobbying by individuals close to Trump and Venezuela’s leaders and a billionaire who allegedly funneled embezzled oil money to the country’s democratic opposition while also seeking partners for Maduro’s efforts to ease U.S. sanctions. The first-term charm offensive failed, but some of its players — including acting President Delcy Rodríguez and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — are now driving Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela.
Prosecutors allege that Rivera became a hired gun for Maduro after leaving Congress, leveraging his decades-old friendship with his fellow Cuban-American Rubio and other Republican connections to push the White House to abandon its hard line on Venezuela. Rivera, 60, denies wrongdoing, saying he worked as a business strategist for a U.S. affiliate of Venezuela’s state-run oil company, and therefore was exempt from the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-trump-lobbying-rivera-delcy-wiles-rubio-c7b78a2696112621c4b375b7cadc4149
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