Merval sees difficulty for the Attorney General's Office in criminalizing donations.
In an article published this Wednesday, the 4th, columnist Merval Pereira of O Globo expressed frustration with the difficulties that the Attorney General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot, will encounter in criminalizing donations received by politicians from construction companies investigated in Lava Jato; "The difficult part will be proving that the money donated by construction companies through legal mechanisms and registered with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has an illegal origin, diverted from Petrobras' works," he stated; the spokesperson for the media opposition to the government also acknowledged that a plea bargain, by itself, does not serve as proof against anyone.
247 - Columnist Merval Pereira, writing for the newspaper O Globo on Wednesday, the 4th, painted a pessimistic picture for the Attorney General of the Republic, Rodrigo Janot, in his mission to criminalize donations received by politicians from construction companies investigated in Operation Lava Jato.
"Starting next week, the Public Prosecutor's Office will focus on gathering evidence to indict those under investigation and convict them during the course of the proceedings," Merval stated. "In the current case, the difficult part will be proving that the money donated by construction companies through legal mechanisms and registered with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has an illegal origin, diverted from Petrobras projects," he added.
According to the spokesperson for the Marinho family's newspaper, even if this embezzlement is proven by cross-referencing spreadsheets and tracing the money trail, it will still be necessary to prove that the politician who received the donation knew it was illegal money.
"Even the PT treasurer, João Vaccari Neto, the most exposed of all, can claim that he didn't know the money was being diverted from construction projects, although there are several plea bargains detailing the financial agreements between them, Petrobras directors, and contractors. Connecting these dots with evidence is what the investigators' job will be from now on."
Merval acknowledged that plea bargaining, widely used in the Lava Jato investigations, cannot in itself serve as evidence against anyone. "Contrary to what most people imagined, including myself, the fact that a plea bargain is approved by the Supreme Court does not mean that the informant has provided proof that he is telling the truth," he wrote.
On Tuesday, the 3rd, Rodrigo Janot filed with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) a list of requests to open investigations into individuals suspected of involvement in the Petrobras corruption case. The list includes several elected officials, among them the presidents of the Senate, Renan Calheiros (PMDB-AL), and the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-AL). 247 It was exclusively reported that the governor of Acre, Tião Viana (PT), is the only state official who will be investigated by the Superior Court of Justice (here).
Read here Here is Merval Pereira's column in its entirety.