Chief Prosecutor Janot Requests Investigation of 320 in Brazil

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Chief Prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, sent to the country’s Supreme Court on Tuesday 320 requests related to the mega corruption investigation dubbed Operação Lava Jato (Operation Carwash).

Of the 320 there were requests for the investigation of 83 politicians, including five Temer cabinet members, seven Congressmen and two former presidents, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, according to local media. Lawmakers’ reactions were almost immediately to what is being called ‘Janot’s List’.

“Putting a black cloud over the entire political class is a disservice to Brazil,” Senate majority leader, Romero Jucá, told government news sources, urging the Supreme Court to act swiftly and decide who merits further investigation and who will be cleared. Jucá is one of the politicians already being examined by the Supreme Court on the Lava Jato scandal.

For Senator Edison Lobão, another politician who has been named in several plea-bargaining agreements as being part of the Lava Jato scheme, testimonies from these agreements are not always confirmed.

“Several requests have been rejected. And they were rejected because the investigators found nothing on those who were denounced,” he was quoted as saying.

The latest request for inquiries comes from 950 statements given by 77 former Odebrecht executives who agreed to plea-bargaining agreements with federal prosecutors in the Lava Jato graft.

According to investigations by the Lava Jato task force, Odebrecht maintained within its organization a secret department created only for the payment of fees to executives and officials for the sole purpose of gaining corporate advantages and contracts. The payments were authorized by the company’s top executives.

The official list with the names of the politicians will only be made public when Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin, overlooking the Lava Jato case has lifted judicial secrecy.

The names of acting politicians and Executive branch members are under seal and cannot be revealed unless the Supreme Court authorizes it.