Canada’s former justice minister released documents to support her claim she had been pressured by the government to shield a company from criminal prosecution.
The 43 pages of documents released publically on Friday are likely to heighten pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as his poll numbers slip ahead of elections in October.
Trudeau has been accused of inappropriately leaning on former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to seek penalties instead of criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.
The Canadian engineering firm was charged in 2015 for allegedly paying bribes to win contracts in Libya. A criminal conviction would block the company from receiving Canadian government contracts and put 9,000 jobs at risk.
The brewing scandal has led to the resignation of two cabinet ministers — including Wilson-Raybould — as well as the departure Trudeau’s senior aide Gerry Butts and Canada’s top bureaucrat Michael Wernick since February.
Trudeau has said he made mistakes but denies any improper interference in the judiciary.
Last month, Wilson-Raybould told lawmakers that she had faced “consistent and sustained” political pressure to intervene in SNC-Lavalin case, including receiving “veiled threats” about her job.
She was demoted from justice minister and attorney general in a January cabinet reshuffle, and quit the cabinet a month later.