The chairman of meatpacking giant JBS SA secretly recorded his discussion with Brazilian President Michel Temer about payments to jailed former House Speaker Eduardo Cunha in return for his silence, newspaper O Globo reported on Wednesday.

The paper reported, without saying how it obtained the information, that JBS Chairman Joesley Batista and his brother, Chief Executive Wesley Batista, presented the recording to prosecutors as part of plea bargain negotiations.

JBS also hired a law firm to discuss a leniency deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, O Globo reported. JBS declined to comment immediately. Temer's representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Additional reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr and Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Christian Plumb and Dan Flynn)