Politics · Brazil · 5 hrs ago
Flávio Bolsonaro asks election court to investigate Brazil’s police chief
Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and presidential candidate from the Liberal Party, has asked Brazil’s election court to investigate federal police chief Andrei Rodrigues.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers allege that Rodrigues used the police force’s public role to benefit the Workers’ Party, whose candidate is President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
They point to Rodrigues’s announcement on October 4, the first round of voting, that police were making a preliminary review of possible foreign interference in the election.
The review followed a request from Brazil’s solicitor general, based on concerns about a possible foreign funding plan; no formal police inquiry had been opened.
The Federal Police closed the review on October 7, saying it found no grounds to seek a formal investigation.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers argue that announcing the review on election day could have harmed his campaign and ask the court to examine whether election law was broken.
They have requested an investigation involving the electoral prosecutor’s office, documents and the recording of Rodrigues’s remarks, as well as his testimony.
Flávio Bolsonaro asked Brazil’s Electoral Court to investigate Federal Police chief Andrei Rodrigues over alleged electoral favoritism toward the Workers’ Party.
Bolsonaro’s lawyers say Rodrigues’s public announcement of a preliminary inquiry into possible foreign interference could have harmed Bolsonaro’s campaign.
Rodrigues made the announcement on October 4, the day of the first round of voting.
The Federal Police said on October 7 that it had shelved the request to investigate the alleged interference because it found no grounds to open a formal inquiry.
The complaint argues that Rodrigues may have violated rules against using public services or structures to benefit a political party.
- Who
- Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and presidential candidate, filed the complaint against Federal Police chief Andrei Rodrigues.
- What
- Bolsonaro asked the Electoral Court to investigate Rodrigues over alleged electoral favoritism toward the Workers’ Party.
- When
- Bolsonaro filed the complaint on October 11, 2026.
- Where
- Brazil’s Electoral Court.
- Why
- Bolsonaro’s lawyers say Rodrigues’s announcement about a preliminary inquiry into possible foreign interference could have benefited the Workers’ Party and harmed Bolsonaro.
Flávio Bolsonaro’s lawyers
Andrei Rodrigues and the Federal Police
Use of the police announcement
Flávio Bolsonaro’s lawyers
The lawyers argue that announcing the preliminary inquiry on voting day could have harmed Bolsonaro and benefited the Workers’ Party.
Andrei Rodrigues and the Federal Police
Rodrigues said the Federal Police had received a request concerning possible foreign interference and sent it for preliminary analysis.
Basis for the inquiry
Flávio Bolsonaro’s lawyers
The lawyers say the materials lacked concrete evidence and point to the decision to shelve the request as support for their claim of political motivation.
Andrei Rodrigues and the Federal Police
The Federal Police said it found no elements to justify a formal investigation and shelved the request.
In a presidential election polarized between the Workers’ Party candidate [President Lula] and the Liberal Party candidate [Flávio Bolsonaro], now opponents in the second round, every negative charge directed at one of them, by definition, benefits the other.
If there was nothing to investigate, all that remained was what to disclose. And the disclosure, on the day of the first round, benefited only one party: the Workers’ Party.
The Guardian published a report about discussions involving a possible US$1 million grant for a program called “Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil.
According to the defense, the attorney-general’s office sent criminal complaints to the Federal Police and the Prosecutor-General’s Office based on the report.
Rodrigues said the Federal Police had sent a request about possible foreign interference for preliminary analysis; it was the first round of voting.
The Federal Police said it had shelved the request because it found no grounds to seek a formal inquiry.
Bolsonaro filed a criminal complaint with the Electoral Court asking it to investigate Rodrigues.
- Complainant
- Flávio Bolsonaro, senator and presidential candidate
- Subject of complaint
- Andrei Rodrigues, director-general of the Federal Police
- Complaint filed
- October 11, 2026
- Public announcement
- October 4, the first round of voting
- Federal Police decision
- Request shelved on October 7
- Potential penalty cited by Folha
- Up to six months’ detention and a fine
Sources
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