Temer demands suspension of corruption probe
brasilia — Brazilian President Michel Temer tried to defuse demands for his resignation by claiming that the central piece of evidence against him in a corruption probe had been tampered with.
The dramatic claim came during what was only the second public appearance by Temer since the release Wednesday of a secret recording in which he can allegedly be heard giving the green light to paying hush money to a jailed politician.
Calling journalists to the presidential palace in Brasilia, the center-right president demanded the Supreme Court suspend its probe into alleged obstruction of justice and again vowed not to resign.
The high said it would rule on Temer’s request of the investigation on Wednesday.
Temer said the secretly recorded audio had been “manipulated and doctored,” a charge that Brazil’s prosecutor general quickly denied. The president also appealed to the Brazilian elite, saying that his leadership is needed to see through austerity reforms aimed at fixing Latin America’s biggest economy.
“I will continue to lead the government,” Temer said, touting signs that Brazil is finally inching out of its worst recession in history.
Prosecutor General Rodrigo Janot has accused Temer of attempting to block a huge anticorruption investigation known as “Car Wash.”
The “Car Wash” investigation has upended Brazil with scores of politicians indicted or subject to probes into alleged bribe taking and embezzlement. Temer is only the latest to be pulled into the maelstrom.
At the heart of his scandal is a conversation he had with an executive from the JBS meat packing business in which the president allegedly blesses monthly payments of hush money to jailed former lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha. —