Defense of Ex-President Rousseff to Use Lobbyist Testimony to Invalidate Impeachment Proceedings

10/17/2017 - 10h36

The defense of ex-president Dilma Rousseff is planning on using statements from the testimony of black market currency-exchange operator Lúcio Funaro in order to bolster a request calling for the invalidation of the impeachment proceedings that removed her from the presidency back in 2016.

According to Mr. Funaro, the former president of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), was given R$ 1 million (US$ 315,000) in order to "buy" votes in favor of the removal of the president from office.

Mr. Funaro himself claims to have distributed money that was then used by Cunha in order for the congressman to "keep his promise and start making payments" to representatives who voted against Rousseff.

"Ever since the impeachment proceedings started, the defense of president elect Dilma Rousseff has maintained that the process that removed her from the presidency was illegitimate", said José Eduardo Cardozo, an attorney of Rousseff 's, as well as a former minister of hers.

"Now, with Mr. Lúcio Funaro's testimony, it has been demonstrated that former congressman Eduardo Cunha bought pro-impeachment votes from members of Congress", read the statement issued by Mr. Cardozo.

He stated that Dilma Rousseff's defense "will request, on Tuesday, October the 17th, that the evidence be added to the case file that the Supreme Court has yet to analyze", calling for the invalidation of the proceedings that led to the president's removal from office.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Ueslei Marcelino - 29.ago.2016/Reuters
	Brazil's suspended President Dilma Rousseff attends the final session of debate and voting on Rousseff's impeachment trial in Brasilia, August 29, 2016