Prosecutor-General's reappointment approved

The Senate approved the reappointment of Rodrigo Janot as Prosecutor-General by 59 votes to 12 with 1 abstention in a plenary session on Wednesday (Aug. 26). Moments before, Janot had also been approved by the Committee on Constitution and Justice of the Senate with 26 votes in favor and 1 against. His nomination to retain his position as Prosecutor-General was made by President Dilma Rousseff.

Before his approval by the committee, Janot stood a confirmation hearing that lasted over ten hours. He came before 30 senators, more than the total size of the committee—27 Congress .

The tensest point of the confirmation hearing came as Janot was questioned by Senator Fernando Collor de Mello, against whom he had brought charges of corruption and money laundering before the Supreme Court last week based on facts emerging from the corruption investigations in Operation Car Wash. Collor was charged with receiving about $7.16 million in kickbacks to fix contracts with BR Distribuidora, a Petrobras subsidiary.

Collor questioned a number of facts relating to Janot's performance as Prosecutor-General, a role he has had since 2013, and accused him of leaking sensitive legal information to make an impression. The prosecutor denied the allegations and replied to all the points raised by the senator.

“Some people say we're making a public spectacle out of Operation Car Wash, but it's really about a basic principle of a republic: all people are equal under the law,” the prosecutor said rounding off his reply to the senator.

Translated by Mayra Borges