Good morning! Today, the leak of the Covid inquiry’s final report has caused relations between members to sour. Major private energy firm engaging in “concealed electricity rationing.” Blockchain cutting red tape in notary offices.
Final report creates a wedge in Covid inquiry
Senator Renan Calheiros was supposed to present his final report today on the Senate’s investigation into the government’s pandemic response. But the committee’s majority group is split on how to get over the final hump of the inquiry process.
Controversy. Mr. Calheiros’ report is over 1,000 pages long, recommending the indictment of 70 people and attributing 11 crimes to President Jair Bolsonaro (as Brasília correspondent Amanda Audi revealed last week).
- But his peers didn’t care for his tactic of leaking parts of the report to the press, which they see as a way of making it harder for other senators to dilute the draft.
- In response, another senator presented a “shadow report,” which is much slimmer and focuses on the main people responsible for Brazil’s botched Covid strategy.
Why it matters. Some senators voiced concerns about how fragile some of Mr. Calheiros’s accusations may be in a court of law. Moreover, they believe that if the report...