Brazil's leader mounts defense to save his presidency

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Sat May 20, 2017, 09:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Peter Prengaman and Stan Lehman, Associated Press Updated 7:27 pm, Saturday, May 20, 2017


RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Fighting to save his job amid a mushrooming corruption scandal, Brazilian President Michel Temer told the nation Saturday that an incriminating audio recording of him had been doctored.

"That clandestine recording was manipulated and doctored with (bad) intentions," Temer said at a news conference in capital of Brasilia.

Temer said he had filed a petition with the Supreme Federal Tribunal, the country's highest court, to suspend the corruption investigation into him until experts can analyze the audio that appears to show him endorse the payment of bribes to ex-House Speaker Eduardo Cunha for his silence.

. . .

Temer's speech failed to impress patrons watching him on television in a Rio restaurant.
"I still don't believe him," said cultural producer Aline Veiga. "He is a coup plotter. We have to keep fighting for our democracy."

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/President-s-scandal-has-Brazilians-pondering-new-11160618.php

LBN:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141780310

[L. Coyote]

1. Brazil's Top Court Approves Investigation into President Temer After Damning Wiretap

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Brazils-Top-Court-Approves-Investigation-into-President-Temer-After-Damning-Wiretap-20170518-0004.html


Conservative senator and ally of President Michel Temer, Aecio Neves, was caught on tape asking for hefty bribes.

Brazil's top court approved Thursday an investigation into unelected President Michel Temer over a new explosive wiretap recording that revealed the president had signed off on sizeable bribes to manage the fallout of corruption scandals swirling around his administration and keep a powerful witness from speaking out on government corruption, Brazil's Globo TV reported.

The decision came hours after the Federal Supreme Court suspended Senator Aecio Neves Thursday morning, a Temer ally who was also embroiled in the wiretap scandal for soliciting hefty bribes. Police carried out search warrants in apartments owned by Neves in Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, as well as his and other lawmakers’ congressional offices as part of the country’s largest-ever corruption probe, known as Operation Car Wash, investigating dozens of politicians and business elites involved in fraud schemes linked to the state-run oil company, Petrobras.

The court's decisions came a day after one of Brazil’s largest newspapers, O Globo, released damning wiretap evidence that the senator had requested bribes to the tune of 2 million Brazilian reais, or about US$638,000 from Joesley Batista, an owner of the world’s largest meat processing company, JBS. Authorities arrested Thursday the senator's sister Andrea Neves and cousin Frederico Pacheco de Madeiros, who reportedly received suitcases of dirty money from Batista on Neves' behalf.

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