BRASILIA—Brazil’s President Michel Temer on Thursday defiantly said he would not resign from office despite a Supreme Court decision authorizing an investigation into allegations he condoned bribery of a potential witness in a major corruption probe.
In a terse five-minute speech broadcast nationwide, Temer said he had done nothing wrong, that his presidency was helping turn around Brazil’s stalled economy and that he welcomed an investigation so that he could prove his innocence.
“I did not buy the silence of anyone,” Temer said, referring to the allegations made against him. “I will not resign.”
The investigation into a sitting president sent Brazilian financial markets tumbling and raised doubts that Congress would pass Temer’s ambitious austerity agenda.
Temer’s situation grew more perilous after the Supreme Court approved an investigation into allegations against him, according to a source with direct knowledge of the decision.
