Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff rejected allegations Tuesday that she sent one of her top ministers to bribe an arrested senator in exchange for his silence in a spiraling corruption case.

The leftist leader "vehemently and indignantly repudiates the attempt to associate her name with the personal initiative of Minister Aloizio Mercadante," Rousseff's office said in a statement after the accusation came to light in a plea bargain struck in the massive graft probe centered on state oil company Petrobras.