MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Jornal do Brasil newspaper, the tape revealed Silveira's criticism of the corruption investigation and the fact that the minister was giving legal advise to the parliament's upper house president linked to the probe.
The recorded conversation reportedly took place before the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Silveira became the second minister appointed after the Rousseff suspension, to resign over links to the corruption investigation.
In 2014, corruption schemes in Brazil's state oil and gas company Petrobras were revealed, triggering a wave of discontent in Brazil toward Roussef who headed the company in 2003-2010.
The upper house of the Brazilian parliament voted earlier in May to start impeachment proceedings against Rousseff after she was accused of concealing the country’s budget deficit ahead of the 2014 re-election.
