In Brazil, a 134-page court order unveiled yesterday authorized a federal police operation targeting former President Jair Bolsonaro and about two dozen of his political allies. The document alleges that Bolsonaro oversaw a plot to undermine the Brazilian public’s faith in the 2022 presidential election, which he lost, and set the stage for a potential coup. (New York Times)
Our Take
It was already known that Bolsonaro had made attempts to cling to power ahead of the 2022 election regardless of the results, namely by sowing doubt about Brazil’s election systems. Indeed, this is why Brazil’s Supreme Court barred him from running for office until 2030.
But this court order goes much further, stating that Bolsonaro oversaw a broad conspiracy alongside government ministers and military leaders that included plans to spread disinformation about voter fraud and recruit military personnel to support a coup. Bolsonaro even personally edited a document proposing the arrest of a Supreme Court justice.