Brazil’s Federal Police Chief under suspicion

President Michel Temer is certainly a lucky man. Last year, when he faced a trial in the Superior Electoral Court that risked unseating him, two of the court’s seven judges left their offices. Temer was able to choose the next two judges and swung the majority in his favor. Since then, Temer has also had the opportunity to appoint Brazil’s top prosecutor and a new Federal Police Chief.

Since Temer and many of his administration’s senior officials have been rattled by corruption investigations, each of the president’s picks was met with widespread public skepticism. Was Temer actually choosing qualified people for such important jobs, or was he instead interested in naming people that would cut him...