Brazilian House speaker sees home raided, ethics probe approved

The politician spearheading the impeachment process against Brazil's president suffered huge setbacks of his own Tuesday, as police investigating corruption allegations against him raided his home and lawmakers approved an ethics probe.
In the early morning hours agents searched the Brasilia and Rio homes of Eduardo Cunha, who is the speaker of Congress and President Dilma Rousseff's chief adversary.

Other politicians were also targeted in morning raids, which were ordered by the Supreme Court. A total of 53 search warrants were being executed, police said.

Police who searched Cunha's Rio home left with a cell phone, a computer and a large pile of documents.

Police also searched the lower chamber of Congress itself, the homes of two lawmakers and those of two ministers, all of whom come from Cunha's centrist party, known as the PMDB. It is the key partner in Rousseff's governing coalition.

Cunha, 57, stands accused of taking at least $5 million (4.5 million euros) in bribes as part of a massive embezzlement scandal at state oil company Petrobras, hiding money in Swiss accounts and lying to fellow lawmakers about those accounts.
Hours after the raids Cunha, an influential right wing politician and deal-maker, got more bad news: a congressional ethics panel voted 11-9 to open a corruption probe against him for the alleged lying about the bank accounts. This step could lead to his dismissal as speaker and eventually cost him his seat in the chamber.

Until now the vote had been delayed repeatedly as Cunha maneuvered to block it.

- Seeking the truth -

Prosecutors suspect the money in Cunha's Swiss accounts came from the Petrobras kickbacks and are investigating him for corruption. He denies any wrong-doing.

The Rousseff government issued a statement saying it hoped "all events affecting ministers and other authorities are cleared up as soon as possible so as to establish the truth."
Cunha reacted to Tuesday's raids and vote by asserting they were in reprisal for his allowing the first step in the impeachment process to go forward.

"Fifty-three warrants were executed. That is normal in an investigation. But it is very odd for that to happen the same day that the ethics committee was to rule on me. It is revenge. I am totally innocent," he told reporters.

Cunha now has 10 days to present his defense to the ethics panel in writing. It will then have three months to vote on whether to dismiss him as speaker. If it does, this must go to the full house for a vote.

Rousseff, meanwhile, is also fighting for her political life. She is accused of illegal budgeting maneuvers that she says were long accepted practices by previous governments.

A one-time political prisoner during the 1964-85 military regime, Rousseff derides the attempt to bring her down as a "coup."
Her approval rating has dropped to 10 percent amid widespread disgust in a country mired in recession and other problems like shoddy public services and rampant crime as it prepares to host the summer Olympics next year.

While spearheading the impeachment process against Rousseff, Cunha is accused of trying to delay the ethics probe.

Cunha gave the initial go-ahead last week for an impeachment process against the president.

But the Supreme Court suspended for one week the commission that will recommend whether Congress should impeach her, citing irregularities.

Of the 65 lawmakers elected in controversial circumstances to the panel, about 30 percent face criminal probes, according to a detailed count by specialist website, Congresso em Foco.

The court is to rule Wednesday on whether to let the commission resume deliberations.

Rousseff is so unpopular she has little political support to mount a defense.

The impeachment push in part reflects the country's anger at multiple crises, including the Petrobras scandal, which has rocked Brazil to its core.

In that case, contractors working with the oil giant allegedly paid bribes to politically connected Petrobras executives in order to land contracts, and the money was then allegedly divvied up with politicians.
Source: AFP