BRASILIA, May 20 -- Brazilian President Michel Temer on Saturday demanded that the Supreme Court (STF) investigation against him be dropped and claimed that an audio recording implicating him in bribery had been doctored.
Temer spoke from the presidential palace in response to accusations against him, made when Joesley Batista, owner of meatpacking group, JBS, turned over a tape to authorities in which Temer can seemingly be heard signing off on bribing former Speaker Eduardo Cunha in exchange for his silence.
The conversation took place between Temer and Batista on March 7, with Supreme Court Justice Edson Fachin ordering an investigation against the president on Thursday.
On Saturday, Temer said the recording, which was released to the public this week, had been manipulated to harm him and criticized the STF for not verifying its authenticity before calling for an investigation.
"This clandestine recording was manipulated and doctored with clearly ulterior motives," he stated. "It was included in the investigation, without an adequate inquiry into those trying to create a deception and causing a severe crisis in Brazil. Therefore, we are calling today on the STF to suspend this proposed inquiry until (the recording) has been clearly identified."
Temer also attacked Batista for having travelled to the U.S. before the revelations were made and accused him of selling JBS stocks ahead of the scandal, knowing the company's stocks would fall once the news broke.
"JBS made millions and millions of dollars in less than 24 hours. This man (Batista) received billions in public loans to develop his business, hurt Brazil and the Brazilian people, and is now in the United States," claimed the president.
Temer further claimed that there were clear differences between Batista's testimony to investigators and the contents of the recording.
Addressing the claim that he paid off Cunha to keep him silent, Temer emphasized that he had played no such role.
"I did not buy anybody's silence, I did not obstruct justice. There was false testimony given to the court," he said.
On Thursday, the day after the news broke, Temer gave a determined speech, in which he refused to resign, saying he had done nothing wrong and that his government had reversed the fortunes of the Brazilian economy.