Rubio to testify in friend's trial over Venezuela oil deal

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will testify Tuesday as a prosecution witness in the federal trial of former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, a longtime political ally accused of secretly lobbying for Venezuela's government on a $50 million CITGO oil contract in 2017. Rubio requested to be called by prosecutors after learning Rivera's defense team planned to call him as their own witness—a move that would have created a public embarrassment for the secretary during a period when he's managing fallout from Iran, Venezuela's political upheaval, and Cuba policy. Rivera and associate Esther Nuhfer face an 11-count indictment for money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents for Nicolás Maduro's government, with prosecutors arguing the case is fundamentally "about greed and betrayal." The trial marks an unusual moment: Rubio will be the first sitting secretary of state in recent history to testify in a criminal trial, though he is not suspected of wrongdoing and is referred to in court documents only as "U.S. Senator 1."