The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, requested the shelving of an investigation that investigates an alleged receipt of bribes by the Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), to influence the creation of legislation favorable to port sector businessman Richard Klien and his group, between 2012 and 2014. This negotiation would have been mediated by Milton Lyra, appointed by the Federal Police in other investigations as a lobbyist for the MDB.

Gonet argued that the request for archiving is due to the lack of “new elements related to Calheiros, leaving the initial evidence isolated in the records”.

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“Additionally, given the information currently available and resulting from the steps already taken, the initial evidence no longer casts the same shadow of gravity over the conduct of the person being investigated, depriving the just cause for continuing the investigation against the parliamentarian”, explained Gonet.

The report contacted the senator and the advisor – neither of them responded to the contacts so far. THE Estadão also seeks contact with the defense with Lyra’s defense. The space remains open.

One of the elements collected by the investigation says that Klien donated R$200,000 to the then PMDB, in 2012, two months before the issuance of the so-called Provisional Measure (MP) for Ports.

“Issuing a provisional measure is the exclusive prerogative of the President of the Republic, as stipulated in the Constitution. In the absence of evidence to suggest that Calheiros participated in its edition or that he influenced the then President of the Republic, Dilma Vana Rousseff, to edit the normative act, this circumstance fails to provide sufficient grounds for his maintenance as a defendant”, said Gonet.

The former president was asked by the Federal Police about the possible influence of Calheiros in the formulation of the MP. She denied interference.

As Estadão showed last year, Gonet also asked for the investigation against Calheiros and former senator Romero Jucá (MDB-RR) to be closed in a case investigating the receipt of bribes from Odebrecht (now Novonor) to support a provisional measure which granted tax advantages to companies operating abroad.

Gonet also asked for the closure of another investigation against Calheiros that investigated the accusation that he had accepted bribes in a scheme to divert resources from Postalis, the Correios pension fund, and in yet another Lava Jato investigation that investigated suspicion of bribery to politicians of the MDB that involved the company Hypermarcas.