Venezuelan Lobbying Scandal Hits Former Congressman

A former U. S. Representative from Florida has been found guilty of secretly lobbying on behalf of the Venezuelan government, a case that revealed surprising ties between U. S. officials and a foreign regime. The trial lasted six weeks in Miami, where the defendant testified that he had been paid a hefty fee by a U. S. arm of a state‑owned Venezuelan company to influence American policy in 2017. He failed to register as a foreign agent, violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act that requires disclosure of such work.During the proceedings, a U. S. Secretary of State revealed that he had met with the former congressman about Venezuela without knowing he was under contract with a Venezuelan oil firm. When asked how he would have reacted if he had known the congressman was working for Maduro’s administration, the secretary said it would have shocked him. The defendant’s legal team argued that his lobbying aimed to help the Venezuelan opposition remove the president, not to aid the regime. Despite this claim, the court found him guilty of illegal lobbying and imposed a sentence that underscores the seriousness of unregistered foreign influence in U. S. politics.