MIAMI — As the federal trial of former Florida Congressman David Rivera approaches, his defense team is aiming to remove a prosecutor from the Venezuelan-connected national security case — claiming he has a conflict of interest because of his wife’s alleged connection to a lobbying firm that once employed President Donald Trump’s current chief of staff.

White House top aide Susie Wiles and a few of Ballard Partner’s top lobbyists are expected to testify at Rivera’s trial next month in Miami.

The defense move is nothing less than bold because it’s usually federal prosecutors who try to disqualify a defendant’s attorney from a criminal case.

Both Rivera and political consultant Esther Nuhfer face trial in mid-March on charges of operating as unregistered foreign agents for Venezuela during the regime of former President Nicolas Maduro, who was seized by the U.S. military last month and brought to the United States on narcoterrorism charges.

Their defense lawyers claim that veteran Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz has a conflict because of his wife’s past lobbying activities as a private lawyer have “intertwined” with Ballard’s clients and projects.

The defense’s recusal motion — which the U.S. Attorney’s Office strongly condemned in a response asserting Cruz’s wife has never worked for the Tallahasse-based Ballard Partners — must overcome a high bar to prevail. U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian would have to find that the prosecutor has a personal, financial, or prior professional interest through his wife that poses a threat to the trial’s integrity or the defendant’s right to a fair trial.

The defense motion — filed by Rivera’s lead lawyer Ed Shohat and Nuhfer’s lead attorney David O. Markus, both of whom have battled federal prosecutors for decades in corruption, fraud and drug-trafficking trials — takes aim at Cruz by alleging his wife has business interests “directly connected” to Ballard Partners.

“AUSA Cruz’s wife is currently engaged in business activities that are directly connected to Ballard Partners, a national lobbying firm that is deeply enmeshed in this case,” the defense team said in a court motion to disqualify the prosecutor.

At the same time, Rivera and Nuhfer are accused of lobbying as unregistered foreign agents for the Maduro regime in an effort to “normalize” relations with the U.S. government in 2017 and 2018, Ballard Partners represented a wealthy Venezuelan businessman who collaborated with the defendants as he tried to expand his Caracas TV station in the United States.

“Ballard Partners, after all, currently employs multiple critical witnesses expected to be called by the government and/or the defense, including [lobbyists] Brian Ballard, Sylvester “Syl” Lukis, and Bridget Nocco. And current White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles — who is also expected to testify — is a former Ballard Partner lobbyist.”

In its motion, the defense team claimed that lawyer Maria Lievano Cruz “continues to be engaged in lucrative business dealings tied to Ballard Partners,” noting that after her husband joined the prosecution team in early January, the couple attended a birthday party hosted by a managing partner of Ballard Partners, Jose Felix Diaz. The defense also asserted that Cruz’s wife “has a long-standing history of political and professional conflicts with both defendants,” Rivera and Nuhfer.

And, the defense accused Cruz of reportedly making “a statement suggesting strong personal animus towards” Markus while expressing his “enthusiasm for the opportunity to convict a Markus client and put Markus in his place” — or “words to that effect.”

FPL connection, Rivera’s attorneys say

The defense said Lievano Cruz has served as a vice-president of a real estate development company (GLC Real Estate) and has been involved in major public projects and regulatory matters “alongside Ballard Partners personnel.” The defense attorneys pointed out that in late 2025, she testified before the Florida Public Service Commission to support Florida Power & Light’s multibillion-dollar rate increase. FPL is one of Ballard Partners’ largest clients.

Additionally, the defense said, Lievano Cruz has worked on initiatives related to The Underline project in Miami; issues brought before the Greater Miami Expressway Authority; and ventures involving the local rock mining industry—“all matters in which Ballard Partners and its clients have significant stakes.”

“In essence, AUSA Cruz’s spouse is professionally intertwined with Ballard Partners’ clients and projects, creating a network of financial and professional interests that overlap with individuals involved in this case,” the defense said. “That the financial fortunes of AUSA Cruz’s household are aligned with Ballard Partners could subtly, or not so subtly, incentivize a prosecutorial approach favorable to Ballard Partners’ position or vindictive toward its adversaries.”

Prosecutor: Ballard claims ‘not remotely accurate’

In response, the lead prosecutor, Harold Schimkat, who filed the grand jury indictment charging Rivera and Nuhfer in late 2022, scoffed at the defense team’s argument, noting it’s based on “multiple undisputed facts.” He countered that “it consists of little more than conclusory allegations, speculation, innuendo, and exaggeration.”

Schimkat, along with Justice Department trial attorney David Ryan, said the defense claim that Cruz’s wife has business interests “directly connected” to Ballard Partners “is not remotely accurate.”

“In fact, these allegations appear to be a complete fabrication by the defendants. Ms. Cruz, to the government’s knowledge, has no current or past financial relationship with Ballard Partners nor has she ever been engaged to work with Ballard Partners in any of her business endeavors,” the prosecutors said in their response.

“Indeed, flagrantly obvious is defendants’ failure, as the moving parties, to allege any specific and identifiable facts or evidence to support their conclusory assertions that AUSA Cruz’s spouse’s professional life is ‘intertwined’ with Ballard Partners business affairs,” they added.

The prosecutors said Cruz’s wife, who once worked as the chief of staff for former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, never had any differences with Rivera and Nuhfer during her time in that job.

Also, Cruz pointed out that he and his wife attended the birthday party hosted by Ballard’s managing partner in Miami, Jose Felix Diaz (no relation), because the families are neighbors, their sons are friends, and they row on the same high school crew team.

They also said “AUSA Cruz has no personal animus towards Markus or any other defense counsel involved in this case.”

The prosecutors said that when defense lawyers raised Cruz’s potential conflict issue in January, they discussed the matter with their supervisors, the chief of the criminal section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s designated professional responsibility officer to determine if there was a legal basis for Cruz to recuse himself from the case. They said the issue was also vetted by the general counsel for the Executive Office of the United States Attorneys, which oversee 93 federal districts in the country.

“After vetting the matter,” the prosecutors said, “it was determined that there was no actual conflict of interest or appearance of such and that AUSA Cruz would not be required to recuse himself from representing the United States,” adding they informed the defense team of their decision.

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