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.
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.
After Ballard walked prosecutors through text messages, emails and lobbying records showing how he came to distrust Rivera, the defense sought a mistrial on Tuesday, accusing prosecutors of improperly suggesting that Rivera tried to rope Ballard into the alleged conspiracy. Judge Melissa Damian denied the motion.
Ballard had become friends with Rubio and Rivera decades earlier when he was building his lobbying practice and the two were serving in the Florida legislature. Ballard Partners later represented the Trump organization in Florida, and then became a dominant player in Washington. By 2025, it was raking in $88 million in fees, more than any other firm, according to lobbying disclosures.
Central to both Ballard and Rivera’s interest in Venezuela was Raúl Gorrín, a media tycoon in Caracas whose repeated attempts to court power players in Trump’s Washington speak to the hazards of foreign influence campaigns in U.S. politics.
In 2018, Gorrín would be indicted for allegedly bribing Venezuela’s treasurer with yachts and show horses to get illicit currency exchange deals. But when Rivera introduced him to Ballard in 2017, the billionaire presented himself as a Trump admirer promoting democratic change.
Ballard’s testimony revealed his increasing discomfort and ultimate regret in aligning with Rivera and Gorrín, particularly as they attempted to navigate the complex political landscape between U.S. and Venezuelan interests.
Through the course of the trial, revelations of intricate connections and unethical lobbying practices have emerged, casting a shadow over the relationships between politicians and foreign entities.
