Mexico’s president on Friday called on authorities to investigate videos showing his brother receiving cash but said the money was part of fundraising and used for 2015 regional elections, not corruption.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made the comments to reporters after two videos were published online by a news outlet.
"They're contributions to strengthen the movement at a time when the people were the ones basically supporting it,” he said. “We have been fighting for many years and the people have financed us, just like what happened when revolutions have taken place."
The videos were published by Mexican news outlet Latinus while Mexico is conducting a high-profile corruption trial involving the former chief of Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, who has also implicated former presidents and senior politicians.
"The aim (of this video) is to damage the image of the government but they will not achieve it,” Lopez Obrador said. “There are birds that go through the swamp and never get dirty. That's what my feathers are like. I've always come out of slander unscathed."
The videos show David Leon, a Lopez Obrador adviser before becoming the head of Mexico's Civil Protection agency, giving cash to the president's brother.
Asked if the money was registered as a campaign contribution with authorities, Lopez Obrador said he did not know.
