Brazil's president is working to contain a wiretapping scandal after a Brazilian news magazine accused the national intelligence service of tapping the phone of the Supreme Court's chief justice and other top officials.
Opposition politicians are calling for the president's impeachment over this latest scandal. (more)
UPDATE...
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suspended the entire leadership of Brazil’s intelligence agency on Monday after it was accused of spying on the Supreme Court chief and members of Congress. Opposition leaders had demanded an investigation when Veja, a news magazine, reported that the agency had spied on the president of the Supreme Court, Gilmar Mendes, and tapped his telephones. (more) (more)
UPDATE...
Low-ranking Brazilian police and security officials are known to tap the phones of politicians and others in attempts to mount extortion schemes, said David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia. But he said such schemes rarely reach someone as powerful as the head of the Supreme Court. He predicted the scandal would die down if top administration officials can show they weren't involved. "If they determine it was done by freelancers, and not as part of a deliberate policy decision, there will be no real repercussions for Lula," Fleischer said. (more)
