Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress, is suspended in the latest scandal to strike the country.
Problems continue to mount in scandal-struck Brazil. The latest controversy: the suspension by the Supreme Court of Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house of Congress.
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Cunha, an influential rival of President Dilma Rousseff, is accused of trying to intimidate congressmen and obstruct investigations against him, according to a court spokeswoman.
He is alleged to have received bribes in a huge corruption scheme at state-run oil company, Petrobras.
Brazil’s constitution places him third in line to the presidency.
Rousseff is expected to be suspended next week in a move her supporters are calling a coup d‘état. Cunha was at the forefront of the push to impeach her.
Following months of speculation and a vote in the lower house of Congress, the senate is to decide whether or not to put the president on trial on charges of doctoring Brazil’s fiscal accounts to hide a massive budget deficit ahead of her 2014 re-election.
If the ballot goes against Rousseff, she will be replaced by Vice President Michel Temer.