A former U.S. congressman illegally lobbied U.S. officials to ease pressure on ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government, a U.S. prosecutor said on Monday at the opening of a trial that will feature testimony from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Federal prosecutors in Miami say the former congressman, David Rivera, in 2017 signed a $50 million contract with a Venezuelan state-owned company to try to improve U.S.-Venezuela ties, but did not register as a foreign lobbyist as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He was ultimately paid $20 million, prosecutors say.

“They sold their loyalty,” prosecutor Roger Cruz told jurors, referring to Rivera and his co-defendant, the political consultant Esther Nuhfer. “They offered access, the defendants did, to United States’ politicians that they’ve spent decades establishing relationships with.”

Cruz said the trial would showcase evidence of the role Venezuela’s current interim President Delcy Rodriguez played in the alleged lobbying effort during the early days of President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.

Trump has praised Rodriguez since she took over from Maduro following his January 3 capture by U.S. special forces.

One of the U.S. politicians Rivera and Nuhfer met with as part of their efforts to stave off U.S. economic sanctions on Venezuela was Rubio, a former U.S. senator and onetime political ally of Rivera’s. Rubio is expected to take the witness stand on Tuesday.

Rivera and Nuhfer have pleaded not guilty to charges including failure to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Their defense lawyers are expected to give opening statements later on Monday.

Rivera, a 60-year-old Republican who represented southern Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013, was arrested in 2022 and has since been free on $200,000 bond.

His lawyers have said that Rivera did not have to register under FARA because he was paid by a U.S. affiliate of Venezuelan state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. They also said Rivera was working to help Venezuela’s opposition remove Maduro from power.

Trump Ramped up Sanctions

According to the indictment, a Venezuelan businessman in February 2017 sought Rivera’s help with lobbying U.S. officials on the Venezuelan government’s behalf.

At the time, Venezuela was undergoing an economic crisis, Maduro’s government was cracking down on street protests, and his opponents accused him of sidelining the opposition-controlled legislature. U.S. lawmakers were urging Trump to step up pressure on Maduro.

In addition to meeting with Rubio, Rivera in 2017 arranged a meeting between Rodriguez, then Venezuela’s foreign minister, and Pete Sessions, a U.S. congressman from Texas. Sessions’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

To compensate Rivera, Rodriguez directed U.S. oil refiner Citgo, a PDVSA subsidiary, to sign a consulting contract with a company that the former congressman owned, prosecutors said.

Venezuela’s information ministry, which handles media inquiries for the government, did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump ramped up sanctions on Venezuela despite the alleged lobbying effort.

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(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Miami; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington and Caracas newsroom Editing by Noeleen Walder, Nia Williams and Andrea Ricci)