Mensalão scandal funneled through an advertising agency owned by Marcos Valério. The investigation has since uncovered members of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, DEM, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party and seven other political parties also involved. Many key advisers to Lula resigned, and several deputies were faced with the choice of resignation or expulsion from congress, though the president himself went on to be re-elected in 2006, and in 2010 Brazil elected his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, as president. Much of PT's leadership was affected in some way, with many resigning or failing to win re-election. Brazil's economy was widely perceived as
Dilma Rousseff indemnification has a symbolic value to her, and Rousseff demanded the requests be tried only after her departure from public office. On 5 April 2009, "Folha de S.Paulo" published, on its front page, an alleged criminal record of Rousseff containing notes about various crimes allegedly committed by her. The document would have been part of the file of the Department of Political and Social Order (), the military regime's political police. Rousseff questioned the veracity of the file, claiming that it was a forged document, which led the newspaper to declare that it had not obtained the document from DOPS'