BRASILIA A Senate committee cleared President Michel Temer`s nominee for Brazil`s Supreme Court on Tuesday despite criticism the choice of his justice minister was aimed at helping shield cabinet members from corruption investigations.
The Constitution and Justice Committee voted 19-7 to accept the appointment of 49-year-old lawyer and law professor Alexandre Moraes to sit on the top court.
A source in the PSDB said the party proposed Moraes for justice minister in the Temer cabinet last year with the idea that he should move on to the Supreme Court when a seat opened.
Six members of Temer`s cabinet, and the president himself, have been named in plea bargain testimony by defendants in Brazil`s biggest corruption scandal and any of the ministers could possibly end up on trial before the Supreme Court.
"But he declined to answer when questioned if he would recuse himself if a case against the Temer involving illegal campaign funds during the 2014 election, in which Temer was impeached leftist Dilma Rousseff`s running mate, came to the Supreme Court on appeal.
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