Brazil's top electoral court dismissed a case on Friday that threatened to unseat President Michel Temer for allegedly receiving illegal campaign funds in the 2014 election when he was the running mate of impeached President Dilma Rousseff.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) voted 4-3 to acquit the Rousseff-Temer ticket, avoiding the removal from office of the center-right Temer who has been besieged by economic recession and corruption scandals since replacing Rousseff last year.

Brazilian President Michel Temer /Reuters Photo

Judge Herman Benjamin voted to sack the scandal-plagued president, saying that systemic undeclared donations and bribes from big Brazilian corporations fatally undermined the 2014 Rousseff-Temer election in South America's biggest country.

"This is enough to invalidate the mandate," he said.

But when the other six judges on the panel began voting in turn, it became clear that the outcome may go the other way. The next three to vote after Benjamin decided in favor of Temer and the session was expected to continue late.

TSE Judge Herman Benjamin has voted to strip President Michel Temer of his office, though the overall outcome was up in the air. /AFP Photo

Brazilian analysts were unanimous in predicting at least a narrow acquittal.

Meanwhile, Temer fired a dramatic shot in a separate case when he refused a demand by prosecutors to provide a written deposition by Friday. He demanded that the probe against him be shut down instead.

The conservative leader is under investigation for obstruction of justice when he allegedly agreed to paying hush money to a senior politician jailed for corruption.

Rather than meet the deadline to answer 82 questions in writing, his lawyers branded the probe a "comedy," an "inquisition" and "arrogant."

Temer's legal problems – on top of corruption probes opened against a third of his cabinet and many of his congressional allies – come just as Brazil is struggling to exit its worst recession in history.

If Temer were removed, Congress would have to pick a new interim president to serve the rest of his term to the end of 2018 – in the second leadership crisis in just over a year.

Brazilian former president Dilma Rousseff  /VCG Photo

Temer was only vice president when re-elected on the ticket of then-president Dilma Rousseff in 2014. However, after Congress impeached the leftist leader in 2016 for breaking accounting rules, her conservative coalition partner Temer ‍took her place.

(Source: Reuters, AFP)