How Brazil's New Political Crisis Might Play Out: QuickTake Q&A

Brazil plunged back into crisis when the Supreme Court authorized an investigation into President Michel Temer on accusations of passive corruption and obstruction of justice. The allegations are the latest development in Operation Carwash, a sprawling corruption probe that has implicated many of the country’s business and political elite and helped bring down Temer’s predecessor, Dilma Rousseff. Temer has repeatedly denied the allegations, but several opposition legislators have called for impeachment, as has Brazil’s influential bar association, the OAB.

Executives from JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, submitted a tape to the Supreme Court that includes a secret recording of Temer which, according to prosecutors, shows the president approving a cover-up and turning a blind eye to corruption. Among the accusations leveled against the president is the apparent endorsement of the payment of hush money to Eduardo Cunha, the imprisoned former house speaker who was key in the impeachment of Rousseff.