The Brazilian Supreme Court on Friday unsealed a series of highly damaging depositions made by top exececutive of meatpacker JBS. The depositions allege a pattern of bribery and illegal campaign financing involving Brazilian President Michel Temer and other political figures. The depositions total some 2,000 pages. They were taken by prosecutors as part of a plea-bargain with JBS executives, who are under investigation on various counts of corruption. In the depositions, JBS executives accuse Temer of demanding and receiving R$15 million in bribes during the 2014 presidential campaign. They said Temer also obtained bribes from JBS adding up to R$3 million in the previous campaign, in 2010. In exchange for the bribes, JBS executives said, Temer used his influence to promote company interests. The court’s decision Friday was part of a broad investigation into Temer’s acti vities ordered by the justices on Thursday. In a statement Thursday, Temer denied charges of corruption. He also said he will resist calls from political and civic leaders for him to resign.
Link to government news agency release
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