A lobbying record uncovered on the 28th shows that the Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA) agreed in March 2017 to hire the legal firm of longtime Democratic Party moneymaker Marcia Wiss for $6 million. In the same month, the Venezuelan state signed a $50 million consulting agreement with scandal-ridden former congressman David Rivera; during this period, the state continued to lobby the U.S. not to sanction oil-producing countries.
International trade lawyer Wise, who has been a Democratic Party moneymaker for a long Time, also donated $1,500 to then-presidential candidate Joe Biden last year, though she denied any involvement in lobbying efforts.
Wise’s former client said it was unclear what Wise’s full work entailed and could not conclude whether it constituted a political move to benefit the Venezuelan government; the PDVSA subsidiary also registered as a foreign agent in a rare retrospective, and published contracts with Levila, Wise and third-party suppliers.
The contracts came to light because allies of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó worked with the Justice Department to expose corruption at Citgo, another PDVSA subsidiary refinery that has been a longtime cash cow for the ruling party in the country.
In the foreign lobbying case, officials appointed by Guaido last year sued Rivera for violating a consulting agreement; federal prosecutors in Miami are also investigating whether the Republican violated foreign lobbying rules.
The three sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the country contracted with Rivera and Weiss to lobby the then-new Trump administration not to impose sanctions on the country, a common political activity of the Maduro administration in the United States. The payments were made by a little-known Delaware-based PDVSA subsidiary, PDV USA.
The case also involved Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, whom PDVSA tried to get to facilitate a meeting with Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil company, when Exxon’s former CEO Rex Tillerson was Trump’s secretary of state.
The two sources noted that Wise had about $3 million in contractual payments, and she also traveled to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to meet with the Venezuelan foreign minister.
Wise said her law firm never provided lobbying services and did not receive money from PDVSA or non-U.S. related parties, suggesting she was not paid half of the remaining contract money; PDV USA said Wise provided advice on PDVSA dispute updates, immigration, insurance and cryptocurrency.
Levila’s business agreement also faces a federal criminal investigation in Miami, and Levila is not currently registered as a foreign agent with the Department of Justice; neither is Wise, but there is no indication that she is facing an investigation.
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