Source tells WSJ Marcelo Odebrecht told judge his company paid off Lula. He denies but prosecutors getting closer

SÃO PAULO—Brazil’s Supreme Court has ordered investigations into one-third of the country’s sitting ministers and scores of top politicians for alleged corruption, delivering a major blow to President Michel Temer as he struggles to revive Latin America’s biggest economy.

Justice Edson Fachin, who is overseeing cases in Brazil’s high court related to the country’s sprawling Operation Car Wash probe, has given permission for prosecutors to open investigations into at least eight ministers, the leaders of both houses of Congress, and more than 50 senators and federal deputies, according to a document from the court released Tuesday.

The Car Wash investigation, which centers on bid-rigging at the state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, has led to more than 100 convictions over the past three years and implicated some of the country’s most influential businessmen and politicians of all major parties .... https://www.wsj.com