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MIAMI (AP) – Recently filed lobbying files show that the socialist government of Venezuela previously hired a longtime Democratic Party donor for $ 6 million at the same time as it was lobbying to discourage the United States from ‘impose sanctions on the oil-rich nation.
The documents, which leaked Thursday, show that a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela’s oil giant PDVSA agreed to hire Washington-based law firm Marcia Wiss in March 2017. This is the same month she signed a $ 50 million advisory deal with former MP David Rivera.
Wiss, an international trade lawyer with a history of giving to the Democratic Party, including a contribution of $ 1,500 to Joe Biden last year, denies lobbying.
His former client – now under new management – said he was unaware of the extent of his work in determining whether these were political activities benefiting the government of Nicolás Maduro. The PDVSA subsidiary also took the unusual decision to retroactively register as a foreign agent, disclosing the contracts with Rivera, Wiss and a third seller.
The contracts came to light as allies of opposition leader Juan Guaidó work with the Justice Department to uncover any corrupt transactions at another 100% PDVSA subsidiary, Houston-based Citgo, which has been operating for decades. years as a cash cow for the ruling party in Venezuela. A board appointed by Guaidó wrested control of Citgo, America’s sixth-largest independent refiner, after the Trump administration recognized him as Venezuela’s legitimate leader in 2019.
The same officials Guaidó-appointed behind the new foreign lobby filings last year sued Rivera for allegedly breaking his consulting contract. Miami federal prosecutors are also investigating whether the Republican broke foreign lobbying rules.
By the time Wiss and Rivera were selected, Maduro was trying to win favor with the Trump administration, avoiding outright criticism of the new US president while transferring $ 500,000 to his inaugural committee through Citgo.
The contracts with Rivera and Wiss were part of an effort to discourage the new Trump administration and other governments from imposing sanctions on Venezuela, according to three people familiar with the agreements who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss of the politically sensitive issue. The payments came from a little-known Delaware registered subsidiary, PDV USA, which provided shareholder services to PDVSA independent of Citgo’s oil operations.
All three said the holding company is regularly used by Maduro’s government for political activities in the United States.
The charm offensive failed. Supported by exiles in Miami, Trump welcomed in the early days of his presidency the wife of a prominent jailed Venezuelan activist and in August 2017 imposed the first of progressively more restrictive sanctions on PDVSA. Democrats applauded the tough stance and the European Union began targeting Maduro’s allies with its own restrictions.
But in an equally delicate approach, now tried again with the Biden government, Maduro for a time sought to ease hostilities with the United States, which was Venezuela’s largest trading partner for decades before sanctions brought it closer to American adversaries like Russia, China and the United States. ‘Iran. Also part of the mix was US Representative Pete Sessions, whom PDVSA tried to recruit to set up a meeting. with Exxon at the same time, the former CEO of the oil giant, Rex Tillerson, was Trump’s secretary of state.
Wiss collected about half of the $ 6 million in monthly installments of $ 250,000 before being tasked, like Rivera, with billing PDVSA in Caracas in April 2018, according to the documents filed. On one occasion, she traveled to Caracas to meet with then-foreign minister Delcy Rodríguez, who was a member of PDVSA’s board of directors in charge of international relations, according to two of three people close to the ‘agreement. Rodríguez is now the vice president of Venezuela.
Wiss said her law firm does not and has never provided lobbying services, adding that the firm has never invoiced or received payment from PDVSA or any non-U.S. Related party – which suggests that half of the contract remained unpaid.
“Wiss is committed to providing PDV USA and its affiliates only with legal services,” she wrote in an email response to the questions.
But the board of directors of PDV USA appointed by Guaido felt that hiring Wiss, Rivera and a third company, Caribbean Style Inc., required him to register under foreign lobbying rules. Texas-based Caribbean Style received $ 625,000 to place four full-page ads in the New York Times and the Washington Post.
“The pro-Venezuelan and anti-US sanctions content of these ads suggests that they were intended to influence the US government or the US public’s perspective on the rating of the US sanctions regime in Venezuela,” PDV USA said in its dated file. Dec 31
In total, PDVSA sent $ 89 million to PDV USA between 2015 and March 2017 to pay suppliers based in the United States, according to the file, which was first reported by Foreign Lobby Report, a news service. online that follows the influence industry.
PDV USA said Wiss provided updates on litigation involving PDVSA and advice on immigration, insurance and cryptocurrency.
But he added that “PDV USA is not aware of the full extent of legal work Wiss may have done under the tenure,” suggesting that what officials appointed by Guaidó see as high fees may have covered additional services for which he has no record. . The PA could find no record of Wiss appearing on behalf of PDV USA or PDVSA in federal court or in the large number of trade complaints against Venezuela before a World Bank arbitration panel.
Wiss did not want to say what legal services she was providing, or whether she had traveled to Caracas as part of her job, claiming attorney-client privilege. “Your information is wrong and you are being misled again,” she added.
Lawyers for Citgo’s new board last year sued a Rivera-owned consulting firm for failing to meet its obligations under the contract. According to the lawsuit, Rivera, the former roommate of fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio, did not describe any work his company, Interamerican Consulting, had actually done, preparing just two of the seven promised bi-monthly progress reports while collecting the First 15 dollars. million of the agreed $ 50 million.
The purpose of the contract was to improve PDVSA’s “long-term reputation” and “position” among “targeted stakeholders” in the United States, according to a copy seen by the AP.
Rivera’s political career has unfolded amid several election-related controversies, including orchestrating the stealth funding of an unknown Democratic candidate to face his main rival in a South Florida congressional race and investigation by the ‘State as to whether he hid a million dollar deal with a gaming company. He has never been charged with a crime.
Rivera’s trade deal is also the subject of a federal criminal investigation in Miami because Rivera never registered with the Department of Justice, which would be necessary to lobby U.S. officials on behalf of a foreign government.
Wiss has also never registered as a foreign agent and there is no indication that she herself is under investigation.
Wiss was a longtime lawyer at Hogan Lovells, where PDVSA was a client, before setting up her own boutique company, Wiss & Partners, in 2016.
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Associated Press investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York City contributed to this report.
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Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
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