The accusations against Michel Temer by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Brazil consisted of two accusations for common crimes filed by the Prosecutor General of Brazil, Rodrigo Janot, against the President of the Republic, Michel Temer, based on the crimes of passive corruption, criminal organization, and obstruction of justice, within the scope of Operation Car Wash.

The second and main accusation, presented on September 14, 2017, was primarily based on the plea bargains of executives from the company JBS and the stockbroker Lúcio Funaro. The accused of criminal organization were the politicians Eduardo Cunha, Rodrigo Rocha Loures, Henrique Alves, Geddel Vieira Lima, Eliseu Padilha, and Moreira Franco, all from the PMDB. The JBS executives Joesley Batista and Ricardo Saud were also accused of obstruction of justice. According to the second accusation, the seven PMDB members committed illicit acts in exchange for bribes within various public bodies and entities, including Petrobras, Furnas, Caixa Econômica Federal, and the Chamber of Deputies. Regarding Temer, he was identified by the Office of the Prosecutor General in the accusation as the leader of the criminal organization since May 2016. The first accusation, presented in August 2017, dealt with suspicions that former federal deputy Rodrigo Rocha Loures had negotiated and received bribes on behalf and for the benefit of Temer.

The Temer administration was successful in blocking both accusations in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, but under the accusation of political favoritism and buying the votes of deputies through parliamentary amendments and the distribution of positions, projects, measures, and other benefits. In addition, the accusations resulted in the loss of support from the government's base in the Chamber of Deputies throughout the votes.

Political context Since assuming the presidency after the removal of Dilma Rousseff, Temer has faced a succession of political crises caused by the involvement of members of his government in corruption allegations. Some of the president's key political advisers had to resign.

The first political crisis of the government began less than two weeks after Temer assumed the presidency, with the leaks of the plea bargain by former senator Sérgio Machado, which led to the dismissal of three ministers: Romero Jucá (Ministry of Planning), Fabiano Silveira (Ministry of Transparency), and Henrique Eduardo Alves (Ministry of Tourism). – Nexo Jornal

Also in 2016, the Minister of Culture Marcelo Calero resigned and accused Minister Geddel Vieira Lima from the Secretariat of Government of pressuring him to reconsider a decision by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) that prevented the construction of a real estate development where the Minister of the Secretariat of Government had purchased an apartment. The President kept Geddel in office despite the criticism, but the situation created a scandal that escalated, causing embarrassment for Temer. Geddel eventually resigned from the government.

Later came the political scandal generated by the plea bargains of executives and former officials of Odebrecht. Based on these plea bargains, Minister Luiz Edson Fachin, the rapporteur of Operation Car Wash at the Supreme Federal Court, authorized the opening of investigations to probe politicians mentioned in the testimonies, including eight ministers of the Temer government.

Temer himself was mentioned in the plea bargains, where he allegedly attended two meetings with the Odebrecht informants to arrange bribes. In addition to the Odebrecht plea bargains, Temer also appears in the plea bargains of lobbyists Júlio Camargo and Fernando Baiano, Sérgio Machado, and the expelled senator Delcídio do Amaral. However, none of these plea bargains could be investigated as Temer enjoys "temporary immunity": the President of the Republic cannot be the target of investigations for events that occurred outside his term of office.

JBS Testimonies

However, the JBS testimonies brought suspicious facts from the period in which he was already in office. The day after the disclosure of the JBS testimonies, the Federal Police launches Operation Patmos and the Temer government enters its biggest crisis. The president was forced to make a statement affirming that he would not resign from office. At the same time, Minister Edson Fachin, the rapporteur of Operation Car Wash at the Supreme Federal Court, authorizes the opening of an inquiry to investigate President Michel Temer.

Process In general, the impeachment and criminal indictment processes follow similar rules, but the procedure adopted in an indictment presents some differences. In an impeachment, the process is political and takes place in the National Congress, without going through the judiciary at any time. The rules of this process are based on Law No. 1,079 of 1950, which deals with crime of responsibility and, unlike ordinary crimes, can be denounced by any citizen. The request is forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies, and the admissibility of an impeachment process depends on the President of the Chamber. If approved, the lawmakers decide whether there is merit in the process through a vote in the plenary. Subsequently, the accusation goes to the Federal Senate, where the trial takes place. In case of conviction, a political punishment is applied, such as the loss of mandate and the revocation of political rights. – Nexo, June 20, 2017

In the case of an indictment for common crimes, the process runs in the judicial sphere. The accusation is made by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, which investigates the case with the Federal Police and forwards the indictment to the Supreme Federal Court. The Supreme Court needs authorization from the Chamber of Deputies to proceed with the process against the president. The step-by-step process of indicting a president of the Republic is as follows:

Firstly, the Prosecutor General of the Republic presents the indictment to the Supreme Federal Court; subsequently, the Supreme Federal Court requests authorization from the Chamber of Deputies to open the indictment; The indictment goes to the Committee on Constitution and Justice (CCJ), where the first stage of the proceedings against the president in the Chamber of Deputies begins. The committee is composed of 66 parliamentarians, among whom a rapporteur is chosen to prepare a report in favor or against the president; After the regulatory period of ten plenary sessions for the presentation of a defense, five additional sessions are held for the report to be voted on in the CCJ; The Committee votes on the rapporteur's report. Even if the report is in favor of the president or rejected, the indictment must go to the plenary of the Chamber; The Chamber of Deputies votes on the indictment in plenary. Just like in the impeachment process, a majority of 2/3 of the 513 deputies is required, that is, 342 deputies for the process to proceed; If approved, the indictment returns to the Supreme Federal Court, which decides whether to initiate an action against the president or not; If the indictment were accepted, Temer would become a defendant and would be suspended from office for up to 180 days, with the interim assumption of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia. Even if the 180-day deadline is exceeded, the trial would continue in the Supreme Court; the Court would then decide whether or not to remove the president from office.

However, with the rejection by the Chamber of Deputies, the indictment remains pending in the Supreme Court, and the case can only be resumed when Temer leaves the presidency. At that point, he would lose his privileged jurisdiction and a first-instance judge could analyze the indictment, without the need for authorization from an external body for the Judiciary to accept it and open a process.

First indictment

The indictment process began on June 26, after it was filed with the Supreme Federal Court, to the case's rapporteur, Edson Fachin. The accusation was based on investigations opened within the Operation Car Wash, based on the testimonies of executives from the company JBS. Janot's report accused Temer of being the final recipient of a suitcase containing five hundred thousand reais and a promise of another 38 million reais in undue advantage, both from the company JBS. According to the indictment, the intermediary in the operations was the president's former aide and former deputy, Rodrigo Rocha Loures, who was arrested on May 18 and filmed in March 2017 by the Federal Police of Brazil, running out of a restaurant in São Paulo with a suitcase containing five hundred thousand reais. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the money was part of a bribe intended for Temer in exchange for his help to JBS in processes at the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). As a result, the president was accused of the crime of passive corruption. This was the first time a president of the Republic had been indicted before the Supreme Court while in office. Janot also requested that Temer be sentenced to removal from the office of president and pay a fine of ten million reais for moral damages to the community. Former deputy Rocha Loures would pay a fine of two million reais.

Processing in the Chamber of Deputies On July 5, the president of the Constitution and Justice Committee, Rodrigo Pacheco (PMDB-MG), appointed Sergio Zveiter (PMDB-RJ) as the rapporteur of the case. Despite being affiliated with PMDB, Zveiter had a technical and independent profile and presented a favorable opinion regarding the admissibility of the accusation.

While the accusation was under analysis in the Constitution and Justice Committee, the government engaged in a series of maneuvers with allied parties, such as replacing members considered insufficiently loyal, as well as releasing funds for projects and amendments by lawmakers, among other strategies, to ensure the rejection of the rapporteur's opinion by Sergio Zveiter, who recommended the continuation of the accusation. Thus, on July 13, the committee members rejected Sergio Zveiter's report by 40 votes to 25. With the rejection of Zveiter's opinion, the committee president, Rodrigo Pacheco, appointed Paulo Abi-Ackel (PSDB-MG) as the new rapporteur, an ally of President Michel Temer, who presented a report against the admissibility of the accusation. This report would be approved by the committee with 41 votes to 24.

After the vote in the Chamber's Constitution and Justice Committee, members of the PSOL and REDE requested the Prosecutor General's Office to initiate an investigation into the release of amendments by the government during the analysis of the accusation against President Michel Temer in the Chamber of Deputies. According to the NGO Contas Abertas, lawmakers who openly declared support for the Temer government were promised an average of one million reais more than the deputies who would vote in favor of the accusation. The SIAFI, the federal government's accounting system, estimated that in just the first thirteen days of July, the government committed to spending R$1.9 billion on amendments.

On August 2, 2017, the Chamber of Deputies voted on the report from the Constitution and Justice Committee, authored by Deputy Paulo Abi-Ackel, which rejected the first accusation from the Prosecutor General's Office. The report received 263 favorable votes, 227 contrary votes, with 19 absences and 2 abstentions being recorded.

Second impeachment charge