Federal Prosecutor General Sends to the Supreme Court 83 Requests for Inquiries into Politicians Actions in Lava Jato (Car Wash) Investigation

03/15/2017 - 12h58

At least five ministers in Michel Temer's government, the former presidents Lula and Dilma and the Presidents of Congress and the Senate are on the list of 83 requests for inquiries delivered to the Federal Supreme Court by the Brazilian General Federal Prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot.

The requests, which are confidential, are a preliminary phase in the investigation.

Once in possession of the requests, which are based on plea-bargain testimony from construction company Odebrecht, the Supreme Court's rapporteur of the so-called Car Wash investigation, Edson Fachin, will decide whether or not to proceed with the investigations.

Eliseu Padilha (Chief of Staff), Moreira Franco (General Secretary), Bruno Araújo (Cities), Gilberto Kassab (Science, Technology & Communications) and Aloysio Nunes (Foreign Relations) are among those cited, according to the *Folha*'s sources.

In the Senate, PMDB party leaders Renan Calheiros, Romero Jucá and Edison Lobão and PSDB party leaders José Serra and Aécio Neves are also on the list.

The requests involving Lula and Dilma, which don't fall under the privileged jurisdiction of the Supreme Court should be sent to lower courts for evaluation.

Without having any access to the content of the requests, involved politicians have said that they will not comment on the cases.

In order to avoid further damage, the Planalto Palace is evaluating making a request to the Supreme Court to speed up the publication of the content of the requests for inquiries.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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