BRASILIA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's lower house of parliament was advised Tuesday to reject the charges of obstructing justice and criminal association facing Brazilian President Michel Temer.
Bonifacio de Andrada, rapporteur for the Chamber of Deputies on the issue, suggested that the Chamber's Commission on Constitution and Justice also reject criminal association charges against the Temer government's Chief of Staff Eliseu Padilha and Secretary-General Wellington Moreira Franco.
In his report, de Andrada lambasted former prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot, who filed the charges, saying there were no grounds to accuse the president. < De Andrada accused the former prosecutor-general of seeking to control the police along with the judiciary, "causing an imbalance between the powers and becoming a new power."
He added that Janot had tried to criminalize government policy while criticizing judges for authorizing searches and arrests without evidence.
"It is enough to verify that ... the Presidency of the Republic is not treated with due reverence," he said.
De Andrada said Janot falsely attempted to identify Temer as "a mob boss," and dismissed the allegations.
"It is impossible to authorize the prosecution of these charges. Our vote is ... for the dismissal of the process," he said.
The defense teams of Temer and the accused ministers are expected to present their arguments before the parliament commission votes on whether to approve or reject de Andrada's report.
Should de Andrada's recommendation be defeated, another rapporteur will be nominated to present a new text, in line with the commission's view.
Once the commission vote is completed, the full Chamber of Deputies will vote on whether to approve or reject the charges against Temer. An approval, which needs a two-thirds majority, would allow the Supreme Court to open a trial against Temer, who would have to step down for 180 days.
The charges laid down by Janot were based on the statements of senior executives from meat conglomerate JBS and Lucio Funaro, a former advisor to Eduardo Cunha, a senior figure of Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and his ally who began to serve a 15-year sentence in March for corruption.
The obstruction of justice charge is based on the allegation that Temer supported the JBS executives bribing Funaro to buy his silence.
The Brazilian president is also accused of leading a criminal conspiracy to seek bribes within the ruling PMDB.
A first charge against Temer for passive corruption was rejected by the Chamber of Deputies in early August, leaving him immune to that particular case until the end of his term on Dec. 31, 2018.
