Temer's adviser resigns after implicated in Odebrecht statements

José Yunes, special adviser at the president's office, asked President Michel Temer permission to step down from his post. In a letter sent Wednesday, Yunes describes as “fanciful” the allegation that he had received money “in cash” to be donated to the PMDB, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party. Yunes's request was granted.

Yunes is a lawyer and Temer's close friend and adviser. In his letter, he refers critically to a testimony given by former Odebrecht vice-President of International Relations Cláudio Melo Filho, who said he handed cash to the president's adviser in a 2014 meeting at Yunes's office.

“Over the last days, mister president, I saw my name cast into the mud of an abject allegation by someone I do not know, whose acquaintance I by no means made and of whose existence I was only made aware through the media courtesy of on his fanciful statement publicized by the media, according to which I received part of the funds in cash for a donation directed at the PMDB. I reject this ignominious account with all the force of my indignation,” Yunes's letter reads.

The lawyer added that, in order to preserve his dignity and “keep the civic flame ablaze” for the country, he “steps down from the honorable position of adviser for the presidency.”

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira