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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