Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil lower house deputy Roberto Jefferson, whose allegations of government corruption sparked a three-month-old congressional probe, said President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva played no role in any wrongdoing.

``I am reiterating my accusations: the ruling party lied to the country,'' Jefferson said in a speech today in the house's voting hall in Brasilia. ``The president is a good man. He didn't take part in any corrupt scheme.''

Jefferson, a lawyer serving his sixth consecutive term in the lower house since 1983, spoke for 41 minutes in his defense before the house began to vote on expelling him from congress. He said the evidence against him collected by the house ethics committee is insufficient to strip him of his seat.

Jefferson, 52, testified before congress on June 14 that he received 4.1 million reais ($1.8 million) of unreported campaign funds from Lula's Workers' Party. In the same testimony, Jefferson, a six-term lower house deputy for the Labor Party since 1983, said Lula's party bribed lawmakers to help win passage of government-sponsored legislation. He denied repeatedly ever receiving bribes in exchange for support.

``As much as he rendered the nation great service by unveiling a corruption scheme, we can't ignore his confession on receiving those campaign funds,'' Onyx Lorenzoni, a deputy with the opposition Liberal Front Party who is part of a committee probing the graft claims, said in an interview before the vote. ``There is no doubt we will pass the ouster. This house needs to restore credibility before Brazilians by defending the rule of law.''

Workers' Party

The proposal to remove Jefferson from congress is part of an effort by the legislature to oust any member who has been named in the graft investigation. Deputies today also planned a final vote on expelling 18 other members, including former Chief of Staff Jose Dirceu. Dirceu has in several statements since he resigned his government post in June, denied Jefferson's allegations that he knew about payoffs.

The Workers' Party said Aug. 17 some members may have broken electoral laws without the knowledge of the party's leadership. The party, in several statements since June, has denied bribing lawmakers in exchange for votes in Congress.

Six of the lawmakers who faced expulsion -- all of them from Lula's party -- won an injunction today from the country's top court barring their ouster from congress.

The Federal Supreme Court said in a decision published on its Web site that the lower house's ethics committee deprived deputies Joao Paulo Cunha, Jose Mentor, Joao Magno, Paulo Rocha, Josias Gomes and Luiz Carlos da Silva of their right to a defense. The injunction orders the house to suspend indefinitely any investigation and procedures aimed at throwing the deputies out of congress.

Appeal

The committee is investigating whether the deputies took part in the payment of bribes to lawmakers in exchange for the passage of government legislation since 2003.

Jefferson, an opera aficionado, appeared on Brazilian news programs daily for several weeks in June. If ousted, he can still appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. To remove Jefferson, lawmakers need at least 257 votes from among the 513 members of the house.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos Caminada in Brasilia at at ccaminada1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 14, 2005 18:34 EDT