(CNN) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to testify Tuesday in the trial of former Florida congressman David Rivera, a close friend and political ally who faces money laundering charges.

Prosecutors say that between 2017 and 2018, Rivera and Esther Nuhfer, Rivera’s former business partner, lobbied US officials including Rubio with the goal of reestablishing diplomatic relations between the United States and Venezuela on behalf of former president Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Relations between the two countries at the time were antagonistic as President Donald Trump, serving his first term in office, had imposed a series of sanctions against Maduro’s socialist regime.

According to the indictment, both Rivera, 60, and Nuhfer, 51, acted as foreign agents without registering with the Department of Justice, a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and to launder funds to conceal and promote his criminal conduct.

Rubio is not named in the indictment and has not been accused of wrongdoing. The State Department has not responded to requests for comments about Rubio’s testimony.

Attorneys for Rivera and Nuhfer declined to comment on the charges, as did the government of Venezuela.

In addition to Rubio, other high profile political figures and former government officials are also listed to testify, including Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, former White House adviser to Trump Kellyanne Conway, and former US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Otto Reich. The trial began Monday in Miami.

Rivera served as a GOP member of Congress between 2011 and 2013, later becoming a lobbyist.

In an interview with CNN-affiliate WFOR in 2022, Rubio acknowledged his close friendship with Rivera.

“The guy and I were roommates in Tallahassee over a decade-and-a-half ago … he’s someone I’ve known for a very long time. We’ve worked closely; but not on this,” Rubio said. “In the end, it’s nothing to do with me … The truth of the matter is that it has nothing to do with me, but people like to ask it because they think it would be interesting if there was something there … nothing to do with me.”