The most damaging Operation Car Wash plea deal has yet to come

In 2016, the testimonies of 78 Odebrecht executives were dubbed “the end-of-the-world plea deal”. Since then, the JBS plea deal has proven even more damaging to the Brazilian establishment. Businessman Joesley Batista taped conversations in which politicians (including the president) openly discussed bribes and corruption.

But now, former minister Antonio Palocci has officially joined the list of Operation Car Wash collaborators. If he chooses to reveal everything he knows, Palocci has the potential to become the most chaos-inducing collaborator that Operation Car Wash has seen thus far. Few know the ins and outs of corruption schemes at the federal level better than Palocci.

One of the most important political figures in the history of the Workers’ party, he served as Finance Minister under Lula, and was Dilma Rousseff’s Chief of Staff at the beginning of her term. On both occasions, he left office after corruption allegations. He has reportedly started to tell prosecutors about how the Workers’ Party’s money-raising strategies worked for the past 16 years.

Since his arrest in September 2016, Palocci has been trying to sign a plea deal with investigators. Those close to the...