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SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer on Wednesday denied a report that he had authorized payments to silence a possible witness in the country’s biggest-ever graft probe.

Temer acknowledged in a prepared statement that he had met in early March with Joesley Batista, the chairman of meatpacker JBS SA, who according to newspaper O Globo recorded a discussion with Temer about hush money for jailed former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha. Temer said his conversation with Batista did not “compromise his conduct” as president.