After a lengthy stay in Florida, Jair Bolsonaro has been spending roughly 1200 euros every day since returning to Brazil. A report from the Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Globo notes this as the largest public expenditure by a former president in Brazil’s republican history. This figure does not include funds set aside for his legal representation. The former captain remains a controversial figure with ongoing disputes, including a case in which a ruling barred him from public office for eight years due to spreading misinformation about the electoral system.
Investigations into a coup attempt have loomed large. Since early January, authorities have fortified the situation with new inquiries. Bolsonaro testified at a police station in Brasília on a recent Thursday, declining to participate in a conspiracy alleged by Marcos do Val, a far-right senator who had once led a political faction aligned with Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro disavowed any formal ties to the legislator, yet acknowledged having welcomed him at his official residence, together with former lawmaker and far-right ex-policeman Daniel Silveira, whom Bolsonaro had previously pardoned after a lengthy sentence for acts seen as a threat to democracy. The meeting, estimated to last about twenty minutes, included Bolsonaro’s assertion that there was no discussion of a coup and that he would not accept any deviation from constitutional norms.
According to Del Val, who was an ally at the time, Bolsonaro and Silveira suggested seeking a private audience with Alexandre de Moraes, then-president of the Superior Electoral Court and a member of the Federal Supreme Court. The plan, according to Del Val, was to pressure Moraes into recording a conciliatory statement that could be used to portray Bolsonaro as the victim of a constitutional misstep. Del Val later recanted portions of his account, saying he had remained silent when pressed, and that the supposed plan would have been intended to justify continued executive action even after Lula da Silva’s electoral victory.
contradictions
From the far right’s perspective, Moraes was seen as creating an opening for Bolsonaro’s return to power. Del Val initially attributed the maneuver to Bolsonaro, but later walked back that claim, telling Veja that he had not spoken with the former president about the matter in a direct way. A subsequent recharacterization suggested that the president himself had ordered actions that, if carried out, would amount to a profoundly serious democratic breach. Bolsonaro left the United States shortly before a new administration began, avoiding a direct confrontation at the time.
Del Val’s credibility has come under scrutiny. In early February, Moraes ordered a fresh investigation into Del Val for revealing information about the alleged coup plot to the press. Simultaneously, the Federal Police pursued a case concerning attempts to impede investigations into the January events at Brasília’s three-branch headquarters.
Bolsonaro commented that the plan would have required coordination with a senator, arguing that the transition had been orderly and that no one from Lula’s party questioned its smoothness. He suggested that Del Val had provided an account of his own actions, rather than a precise account of any broader strategy.
lots of reasons
For the fourth time this year, Bolsonaro has appeared before the Federal Police to answer questions related to various investigations. In May, he denied involvement in allegations tied to the alleged falsification of COVID-19 vaccination certificates. He had previously denied involvement in the January attacks on the headquarters of Brazil’s public forces and in the 2021 shipment of jewelry from Saudi Arabia into the country. These appearances come as the Lula administration moves to address far-right influence in state institutions, including the dismissal of the National Civil-Military Schools Program, a program once framed as a shield against “cultural Marxism.” Former vice president and current right-leaning senator Hamilton Mourão called the decision a vindictive move.
They’re questioning his right hand.
In this legal landscape, Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, Bolsonaro’s former private secretary, testified before the congressional inquiry into the January events. Cid, who once carried much of the president’s logistical burden, appeared in uniform and faced sharp questions from lawmakers. He has been detained since May on separate charges related to forged vaccination certificates and has invoked his right to remain silent during the inquiry.
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