Rep. David Rivera defends himself over federal investigation, plays tape recording of FBI witness

In his first sit down English-language television interview in weeks, U.S. Rep. David Rivera defended himself Sunday against a federal grand-jury investigation into his alleged involvement in a primary campaign against his Democratic opponent.

At one point, Rivera pulled out a black Sony tape recorder and held it up against his lapel microphone to play a recording of what he said was a telephone message from an FBI witness in the case.

The FBI is investigating whether Rivera illegally funneled secret money to Justin Lamar Sternad, who lost in the Aug. 14 primary to Joe Garcia. Garcia now faces Rivera.

“No federal agency has ever stated or confirmed that I am under investigation for anything,” Rivera told WPLG-ABC 10’s Michael Putney on This Week in South Florida.

What Rivera didn’t say: State records show that federal authorities as late as last year were investigating him in a separate matter stemming from a secret $500,000 dog track payment the congressman had arranged.

Rivera had denied at the time that he was even under state investigation or that he had a lawyer. Records showed otherwise.

In the latest investigation, at least two campaign vendors have told The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald that they had been interviewed by federal authorities concerning Sternad’s campaign, which was fueled by tens of thousands of unreported money — much of it cash.

The FBI was scheduled to speak to Ana Sol Alliegro, Sternad’s campaign manager who apparently acted as Sternad’s conduit to Rivera. She disappeared from public view several weeks ago.

A target of a federal investigation is typically not informed of the probe until it is wrapping up or investigators have compiled enough evidence to confront their subject.

When Putney pressed Rivera about his involvement in Sternad’s campaign leading up to the August primary, Rivera tried to discredit vendor Hugh Cochran, who has said Rivera hired his company, Campaign Data, to target voters to receive Sternad fliers.

“Let me play you a little tape from Mr. Cochran, a voice mail that he left with the Miami Herald reporter that is involved in running this story,” Rivera said. “Just so you know Mr. Cochran’s agenda.”

More here.

On Miami TV ads, Rep. David Rivera touts support for undocumented student, attacks rival Joe Garcia

Embattled U.S. Rep. David Rivera has at least two campaign ads running on television in Miami, one positive and in Spanish and one negative and in English.

The positive ad features Daniela Peláez, the North Miami Senior High School valedictorian who faced deportation to Colombia because her parents had brought her to the U.S. illegally as a child. She got a reprieve in part thanks to congressional intervention and has become a fixture at Rivera events, including one last week where he held an immigration workshop at his Miami district office.

Update: Here's the video of the ad, titled El Sueño Americano (The American Dream).

Here's our translation:

I'm Daniela Peláez. When I faced the threat of deportation, I went to see my congressman, David Rivera. He never asked if I was Republican or Democrat. David Rivera put all of his resources at my disposal. Like me, David Rivera has been fighting to help undocumented youth to achieve the American Dream. David Rivera has always backed us. Now it's our turn to back him.

Peláez is one of South Florida's so-called DREAMers, who would be granted legal permission to remain in the country under the DREAM Act, legislation that has stalled in Congress. It was supported by Rivera's fellow Cuban-Americans currently and recently in the U.S. House: Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Rivera, however, has never backed the DREAM Act and criticized the Obama administration's recent decision to allow young people brought into the country illegally as children to temporarily remain in the country legally. Instead, he has suggested modified versions of the legislation, one for students graduating from high school and planning to attend a four-year college and another one for young people serving in the military.

The negative ad features an unidentified man and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who campaigned for Garcia when he ran for Congress in 2010 against Rivera and in 2008 against Mario Diaz-Balart. The ad makes several inaccurate claims.

The Rivera files: Congressman denies investigation -- despite prosecutor's email

Congressman David Rivera has been under investigation for more than a year. And for just as long, Rivera has denied it all, most recently Monday morning on US1 Radio in the Florida Keys where veteran host Bill Becker tried to get Rivera to talk about the cases.

A little history: Rivera was first investigated by the state and then the feds in connection with a secret $500,000 dog track payment. Now, he faces a second federal grand-jury investigation into whether he helped illegally steered secret money to a candidate who tried to undermine a rival (some background here).

Initially, Rivera denied he was under any investigation at all. He even denied hiring a lawyer on July 21, 2011 (see the answer to the last question here). By then, records show, his criminal defense attorney Michael Band had been on the case for about two months by that point (see the attached JPEG, click to enlarge).

Band did his work. He helped Rivera avoid 52 state charges (more background here).

Rivera is still denying that the feds opened an investigation tied to him -- this despite on-the-record comments from people who have been interviewed by the FBI and the IRS. Rivera essentially denied it again Monday when he tried to steer Becker away from talk of the cops so he could stay on message about jobs and the economy.

Becker: "You know and I know that that's not what the voters are talking about. They're talking about your ongoing investigations by the FBI, the grand jury, the FDLE regarding your activities as of late... Your involvement in the campaign of Justin Lamar Sternad..."

David Rivera ducks FBI-probe questions, eludes reporters by slipping out back door

Under federal investigation, Congressman David Rivera held a rare press conference Friday but he refused to discuss the FBI probe on every reporter's mind.

Rivera claimed that, since he was holding a congressional event, he couldn't talk about what he called an election issue: The allegation from two campaign vendors who say he participated in a scheme to secretly aide another candidate to undermine a rival.

“It’s very simple, as I said before, we are in an official, federal government office. Any communications that get done in this office have to be related to official government business,” Rivera told CBS4, according to its video and online story. “I think that’s the appropriate way to do this.”

NBC6 also tried to get answers from Rivera, who's being abandoned by his fellow Republicans. Rivera refused to comment. Nothing new there. Rivera will only comment on the case to select Spanish-language TV and radio reporters who have given him a pass and allowed him to misrepresent the case and the reports about it.

Reporters staked out his building, but Rivera slipped out a back entrance, they suspect.

 

Jeb Bush Jr. on all the chatter of him running for Rep. seat now held by David Rivera

When Republicans began seriously discussing a David Rivera loss or indictment last week, the question was self-evident: Who should run for the seat?

The most-intriguing name: Jeb Bush Jr., son and namesake of the former popular governor. Here's his response to an email inquiring about the speculation:

Marc, I hope all is well and thank you for the note. We are hoping things with Congressman Rivera work out well in his tight race! If I've learned one thing in politics, its never a good idea to talk in hypotheticals, rather better to with facts. Let's see how things shake out when more of them are available. All the best, Jeb

That's not quite a yes or a no, obviously.

Still, it would be a surprise if he ran for this reason: The Bush model posits that you go out in the world, make your mark/fortune first and then run for office. JBJ right now heads up a conservative political committee aimed at Hispanics, SunPAC. And if he ever decided to run for a congressional seat in Miami, it's doubtful he'd face serious opposition.

Amid FBI probe, GOP prepares for Rivera indictment, loss and future successors

Bracing for embattled U.S. Rep. David Rivera to be indicted or lose his election, Republicans have started lining up potential successors to regain the seat in 2014 if the congressman’s Democrat opponent defeats him in November.

The pressure has been building for about a month, but it boiled over last week after a series of stories by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald documented that a candidate suspected of illegal campaign activities linked to Rivera has turned on the congressman.

For the past week, a group of Miami Republicans began mulling possible future candidates, who might even challenge Rivera in 2014 should he win the election in November.

Leading the list: Jeb Bush Jr., son and namesake of the popular former governor, and state Sen. Anitere Flores. Other names include Marili Cancio, a lawyer who challenged Rivera in the 2010 GOP primary; former state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who’s running for state House, and Miami-Dade School Board Member Carlos Curbelo.

None could be reached for comment, except for Cancio, who said “whoever is in the race will beat Joe Garcia. We can’t afford to have him in Congress.”

But Rivera’s own trusted political adviser is concerned.

“David faces a real Herculean task to keep his campaign together,” said Dario Moreno, a Florida International University political science professor who polls for Rivera.

“Everyone at a political gathering was talking about this,” Moreno said, declining to name names about the meeting of Republicans.

Making matters worse for Rivera, on Friday The Herald obtained a survey conducted by GOP pollster McLaughlin & Associates that showed Rivera losing to Democrat Joe Garcia 33-43 percent.

The 10 percentage-point margin is outside the 4.9 percent error margin for the 400 likely-voter survey taken in the newly drawn District 26 that stretches from Kendall to Key West. A Democratic poll earlier in the month showed Garcia with a 9-point lead.

More here

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/01/3029805/amid-fbi-probe-gop-prepares-for.html#storylink=omni_popular#storylink=cpy

Video: Marco Rubio mum on David Rivera questions, Jeb Bush Jr. floated as future replacement

Sen. Marco Rubio preferred to get rained on Monday than answer questions about a criminal investigation into his long-time friend and ally, Congressman David Rivera.

Rivera is the subject of a federal grand-jury investigation into whether he steered tens of thousands of unreported cash to a Democratic congressional candidate who ran against a rival of the Republican.

The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald first reported the allegations when two longtime Rivera campaign vendors said he was behind the effort that’s now under federal scrutiny.

Rivera has attacked the vendors’ credibility, but Rubio had nothing but good things to say about the two.

“I’ve always had positive dealings with them,” said Rubio, who tried to say as little as possible about Rivera before an aide whisked him away in the rain at an event.

Meantime, top Republicans from Washington D.C. to Tallahassee to Miami are laying the groundwork to field new challengers for the District 26 Congressional seat in the event that Rivera loses the race to Democratic challenger Joe Garcia.

A powerful new name, meanwhile, is being floated in Miami-Dade: Jeb Bush Jr., son and namesake of the popular Florida governor who lives in Coral Gables.

State Sen. Anitere Flores is at the top of the list as future congressional candidates as well as Marili Cancio, an attorney who ran against Rivera in the Republican primary in 2010.

GOP poll: embattled David Rivera 33% - Joe Garcia 43%

Two separate polls from Republican and Democratic third-party groups have arrived at the same conclusion: Republican U.S. Rep. David Rivera is losing his reelection effort.

Rivera, under separate federal criminal investigations into his personal and campaign finances, trails Democratic challenger Joe Garcia by 9 percentage points in a Democratic poll and he’s behind by 10 points in the Republican survey — just outside the poll’s error margin.

Rivera’s campaign has produced its own survey showing he has an inside-the-error margin lead of 4 points.

The Republican survey is the newest and most eye-opening because it was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by a top-flight GOP polling firm with vast experience in Florida: McLaughlin & Associates.

Pollster Jim McLaughlin confirmed the numbers in the poll, but he declined comment and he wouldn’t disclose who paid for the survey obtained by The Herald.

“This is a quality polling firm, and based on the data, it’s very difficult for Rivera to come back,” said political consultant David Custin, who successfully led efforts to defeat Garcia in his previous congressional races in 2010 against Rivera and in 2008 against Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.

“I don’t want Joe to win,” Custin said. “But this poll makes it look like he will.”

The Republican poll’s numbers aren’t just bad news for Rivera in the new Kendall-to-Key West Congressional District 26 seat.

The survey shows Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney trails President Obama 43-51 percent in the GOP-leaning district, which voted an average 4 percentage points more Republican compared to the national average for the results of the two prior presidential campaigns. In some ways, the results of this survey shed light on Romney’s struggles in must-win Florida.

Obama is besting Romney in every recent major Florida survey, albeit the Democrat’s statewide leads are often within the error margin.

In the district, voters essentially deadlocked 47-47 on whether it’s bad to raise taxes on the wealthy or not. And when asked about Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s Medicare, 45 percent said it would be more likely to save “trillions” of dollars while 38 percent said it would end Medicare.\
 
On Obamacare, 26 percent want it repealed, 33 percent want it modified and 34 percent want it left alone.

More here

Democrats call for Rep. David Rivera to 'come clean,' cancel TV ad buy

The Florida Democratic Party issued a statement Wednesday calling for U.S. Rep. David Rivera to explain any involvement he may have had in the campaign of Justin Lamar Sternad, who ran in the Democratic primary against eventual nominee Joe Garcia.

Sternad told the FBI that Rivera was secretly behind his run, The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald have learned. Sternad also said his campaign manager, Ana Sol Alliegro, served as a conduit to Rivera. Alliegro, according to what Sternad told the feds, called Rivera "D.R." or "The Gangster."

"It is past time for Representative David Rivera to come clean about his involvement in this notorious and likely illegal shadow campaign," the party's executive director, Scott Arceneaux, said in a statement. "Each day seems to bring more news about Rivera and his cronies' scandalous activities, leaving little doubt that the congressman is more concerned with saving his own political life than looking out for his constituents' interests in Washington."

Meantime, the House Majority PAC, a Washington D.C.-based Democratic superPAC, has canceled its planned TV ad buy to back Garcia in the race. The group had planned to spend some $500,000 advertising in the Kendall-to-Key West district.

Sternad talks to FBI: David Rivera called 'The Gangster,' secretly behind campaign

Justin Lamar Sternad, whose failed congressional campaign became the subject of a federal grand-jury investigation, has told the FBI that U.S. Rep. David Rivera was secretly behind his run for office, The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald have learned.

Sternad, 35, also told authorities that his campaign manager, Ana Sol Alliegro, acted as the conduit between the campaign and Rivera, who allegedly steered unreported cash to the Democrat’s campaign, according to sources familiar with the investigation and records shared with The Herald.

Sternad said Alliegro referred to the congressman by his initials, “D.R.,” and called him by the nickname, “The Gangster.”

“We will respond when these so-called ‘sources’ are willing to go on the record,” said attorney Michael R. Band, who represents Rivera. “We are not going to respond to unfounded rumors and innuendo. My client is in the middle of an election and it’s unfair for us to be shadow-boxing with unnamed sources.”

Sternad’s account to federal authorities supports what two campaign vendors told The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald: that the congressman was the driver behind a botched attempt to plant a candidate in the District 26 congressional primary.

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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/25/3021207/rivera-ran-secret-campaign-sternad.html#storylink=cpy