Brazilian President Michel Temer refuses to resign amid allegations of corruption

Michel Temer.
(Image credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Brazilian President Michel Temer is resisting calls from an outraged public to step down, following the release of a tape a newspaper says features Temer discussing making payments to a former politician jailed for corruption.

"At no time did I authorize the paying of anyone," he said in a national address Thursday. "I did not buy anybody's silence. I will not resign." On Wednesday, the Globo newspaper reported on the existence of the recording, and the Supreme Federal Tribunal, Brazil's highest court, opened an investigation and lifted a seal on the tape. The recording is hard to understand in several places, but two men — reported to be Temer and Joesley Batista, a meatpacking company executive — are heard talking about Eduardo Cunha, the former lawmaker. The man believed to be Temer can be heard saying Cunha has information that could embarrass him, but "I settled everything. He came and collected, etc., etc., etc. I am good friends with Eduardo, okay?"

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.