Late Monday, Brazil's chief prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, filed charges accusing embattled President Michel Temer of corruption for allegedly taking a $152,000 bribe, with the promise of $11 million more, from meatpacking magnate Joesley Batista. The charges will likely be weighed by the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, where a two-thirds majority would be needed to suspend Temer for up to 180 days while he was put on trial. Temer, who replaced President Dilma Rousseff after she was impeached, is expected to get enough support in the lower house to avoid suspension, though Janot is believed to be preparing further charges, to be filed one at a time, requiring votes on each charge. Brazil has no vice president right now, and if Temer is suspended, House Speaker Rodrigo Maia would take over.
Temer is unpopular — a poll last week found his approval number at a historically low 7 percent, with 76 percent saying he should resign — and members of Congress face elections next year. Temer denies the bribery and other charges — including a taped conversation with Batista that reportedly captures him approving payments for the now-jailed former speaker of the lower house — and often notes that Batista got a generous plea bargain to cooperate with prosecutors. This is the first time a sitting Brazilian president has been charged with a crime.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Can the UK do more on climate change?Today's Big Question Labour has shown leadership in the face of fraying international consensus, but must show the public their green mission is ‘a net benefit, not a net cost’
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will US Catholics rebel against the Pope?Podcast Plus what are the ethics of freezing your late partner?
-
David Hockney at Annely Juda: an ‘eye-popping’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends ‘Some Very, Very, Very New Paintings Not Yet Shown in Paris’ testifies to the artist’s ‘extraordinary vitality’ and ‘childlike curiosity’
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
