Flávio Bolsonaro’s lawyers and political allies warned him that following the path taken by his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, could lead to prison, according to people who attended a meeting the day after Flávio lost the presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The senator had rejected the result the previous day and, participants said, was upset and felt he had been treated unfairly.
The nearly five-hour meeting brought together Flávio, his lawyers and several political figures, including campaign coordinator Rogério Marinho, São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas and senator-elect Guilherme Derrite. Those present reportedly agreed that he should abandon claims of election fraud. His lawyers instead recommended pursuing an electoral case against Lula over alleged use of government resources, saying they believed there was a basis for it.
One argument made at the meeting was that repeating Jair Bolsonaro’s conduct would bring Flávio to the same place: prison. The former president is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup. Flávio had visited his father that morning and said he received a Federal Police summons as he left the house.
The police had requested, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had authorized, the cancellation of Flávio’s Brazilian passports in an investigation into suspected money laundering. His Italian passport was also to be handed over by the following morning. The reasons for the request were not made public.
After being served with the summons, Flávio called campaign lawyers Tracy Reinaldet and Maria Claudia Bucchianeri but reportedly could not reach them. He then contacted his friend and lawyer Otto Medeiros, whose office became the venue for discussions about the senator’s political and legal future.
At the meeting, Flávio agreed to appear the following week at a congressional event with newly elected right-wing senators to discuss the opposition’s direction. He also reportedly agreed that a lawyer could collect his Italian passport and deliver it to the Federal Police. On advice from the group, he recorded a video saying he would hand over the document and had never considered leaving the country. He reportedly recorded it three or four times before the group approved the tone. The video was posted shortly before 5 p.m.
According to people who were with him, the summons intensified Flávio’s distress after the election defeat. In a livestream on Friday, he said the fear of being arrested had ultimately motivated his decision to leave Brazil. He also claimed that his father witnessed the summons and told him, with tears in his eyes, that he knew where the authorities wanted to take things. Flávio said he replied that he knew what he had to do.
Flávio said he went to the United States so he could continue speaking freely, unlike his father, whom he described as censored and unable to guide the movement. He later again insinuated that the election had been fraudulent, without presenting evidence.
The report says Flávio met with another lawyer and friend, Frederick Wassef, at his home later that Monday. The next morning, the lawyer who had expected to arrange the handover of the Italian passport could not reach him. Messages and calls went unanswered. Flávio’s wife, Fernanda, reportedly told another contact that he was lying beside her and would respond when he got up. By then, an Argentine news outlet was reporting that he had left Brazil through the border with Argentina.
Flávio’s departure was criticized by much of the right, particularly moderates and allies from the core campaign team, who said it did not fit the political strategy they had agreed on. A letter with coup-related content that he published hours after arriving in the United States further isolated him within his political camp, while Tarcísio de Freitas gained strength as a possible opposition leader and 2030 candidate.
Flávio has said Brazil is not a democracy and that he has nowhere to turn over what he calls political persecution. His lawyers, however, had advised him to lower the political temperature and rely on a legal defense in the criminal investigations against him.
Sources: Folha Poder.