The JBS Case

Wednesday, May 17^th.

Brazilian president Michel Temer was having one of his best weeks since taking office. The economy, which had been left in shambles by his impeached predecessor Dilma Rousseff, was showing signs of recovery after months of stupor. Not only that, but his ambitious reform agenda was moving forward in Congress. Despite some missteps and the turbulence produced by operation Car Wash (a massive anti-corruption investigation that implicated many political figures), the government seemed to have found its groove, and Brazil looked set for a relatively smooth ride to the 2018 election.

This did not last long.

Late that afternoon, \textit{O Globo} journalist Lauro Jardim broke the story that businessman Joesley Batista had secretly taped Mr. Temer supposedly discussing hush money payoffs to Eduardo Cunha, the jailed former speaker of the lower house. Mr. Batista, one of the owners of meatpacking giant JBS, had made the tape as part of a plea bargain deal struck with then-prosecutor-general Rodrigo Janot. If the content of the recording was confirmed, it would have been an unprecedented scandal: for the first time in Brazilian history, there would have been explicit evidence of a president committing a crime while in office. No one had heard the tape, but talk of a premature end to Mr. Temer's government was widespread and speculation began of who could take his place.

The next day, the Federal Police launched an operation targeting not only Mr. Temer, but also senator Aécio Neves, a leading figure of the former opposition who ran for president against Dilma Rousseff in the 2014 election and barely lost. As part of his deal, Mr. Batista had also taped Mr. Neves supposedly requesting two million reais in bribes.

That evening, Supreme Court justice Edson Fachin lifted the secrecy of Mr. Batista's deal, making the content of the tapes public. The audio was not as bad as feared, but Mr. Temer's situation was still serious as the recording was made at a late-night secret meeting during which Mr. Batista nonchalantly admitted to the president to having committed several crimes. The president's situation was further aggravated by video footage of his close aide Rodrigo Rocha Loures running with a suitcase full of money, which he had supposedly received from one of Mr. Batista's associates. By the end of the day, Mr. Temer, Mr. Neves and Mr. Rocha Loures found themselves under investigation for corruption, obstruction of justice, and participation in a criminal organization.

This was only the beginning of a long and complex story filled with intrigue, twists, turns, betrayals, secret recordings, arrests, judicial activism, misbehaving lawyers and prosecutors, and political maneuvering.

This website was made to make it easer to understand this turbulent moment of Brazilian history. It uses interaction and visualization to let you explore the actors involved, the different subplots in which they appear, and how these subplots connect to one another.