Brazil’s president will support gambling expansion if he isn’t impeached first

Brazil’s president says he’ll sign any gambling expansion bills that legislators find acceptable, provided that he’s not impeached first.

Last week saw the inaugural meeting of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies’ new parliamentary front for gambling regulation, which has set a goal of approving long-stalled legislation that would authorize the launch of land-based casinos and other gambling options, including as-yet undetermined online gambling products.

Brazil’s President Michel Temer has indicated he will favorably receive any gambling bills that emerge from Congress, in part due to the government desperately needing new sources of revenue. But Temer has more immediate concerns, including a vote on Wednesday on whether he should stand trial on charges of racketeering and obstruction of justice.

Temer is expected to survive Wednesday’s vote, which would require a two-thirds majority of the Chamber’s 513 deputies to send him to trial. It probably doesn’t hurt that 185 of those deputies are also the current subjects of corruption probes, so, you know, when in Rio…