Brazil’s Lower House Chief Cunha Charged With Corruption

The Brazilian lawmaker with a key role in deciding whether President Dilma Rousseff faces impeachment hearings was ensnared in a corruption scandal himself as public prosecutors pressed charges against him.

Eduardo Cunha, the head of the country’s Chamber of Deputies, was accused of having received at least $5 million in the kickback scheme at state-owned oil company Petrobras that has rattled the government and deepened the recession in Brazil. While the opening of the case against Cunha was expected, it both deepens and complicates the crisis by putting a crucial player in the impeachment debate -- which has grown as anti-Rousseff protests have swelled -- on the defensive.