Venezuelan socialist government hired longtime Democratic donor amid U.S. lobbying campaign

State-owned oil giant says it's unsure if lawyer's work benefited controversial head of state.

Published: January 30, 2021 3:43pm

Updated: January 30, 2021 3:57pm

The socialist government of Venezuela hired a longtime Democratic donor for undisclosed work within its state-owned oil company, recently revealed lobbying records reveal.

Petróleos de Venezuela, the Venezuelan government's multibillion-dollar energy corporation, engaged the service of Marcia Wiss's Washington, D.C. law firm in 2017, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.

The hire came as President Nicolàs Maduro's government was lobbying the United States to stave off sanctions the U.S. was considering at the time.

Wiss "denie[d] she did any lobbying work," the AP reported, with the lawyer telling the newswire that she was contracted for "legal services only."

PDSVA, meanwhile, "said it was unaware of the full extent of her work to determine if it constituted political activities" that benefitted the Maduro regime.

Wiss's firm was paid $6 million for her work with the socialist government.

Maduro has been accused of major human rights violations during the course of his presidency, including extrajudicial killings and illegitimate elections.