Bolsonaro considered seeking political asylum from his ally Javier Milei in Argentina, according to Brazilian police

When the judge ordered Jair Bolsonaro’s house arrest earlier this month, he also decreed that his mobile phone be seized. Among the documents found on the device was a 2024 letter in which the former Brazilian president requested political asylum from his ally Javier Milei, head of the Argentine government. That and other information uncovered by investigators have led the Federal Police to ask judges on Wednesday to prosecute the former president — confined in Brasília — and his son Eduardo, a congressman based in the United States, for attempting to coerce the Supreme Court. The court is expected to rule in early September. Bolsonaro maintains his innocence.

The Federal Police have submitted a 170-page report asking the judges to add this new accusation to the charges Bolsonaro already faces. The document, according to detailed revelations in the Brazilian press, includes the asylum request in neighboring Argentina. The letter in question is a draft last modified in February 2024 — just days after Judge Alexandre de Moraes had revoked Bolsonaro’s passport — coinciding with a two-night stay at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, which raised suspicions that he planned to seek asylum from an ideologically aligned government.

Police also revealed that Bolsonaro transferred two million reais (around $362,000) to his son to cover his stay in the United States. The money was moved through the wives of both men, according to the Brazilian press. The patriarch sent the funds to the account of his wife, Michelle, who the next day transferred them to their daughter-in-law Eloísa, Eduardo’s wife. Eduardo, in turn, dedicated himself to maneuvering with the Trump administration to pressure Brazilian institutions so that his father would not be held accountable for the attempted insurrection.

According to local media, the exchange of messages between former president, his sons, Silas Malafaia — an evangelical pastor and close personal friend of the former leader — and other Brazilian political figures point to serious tensions within the family and among the different factions of Bolsonarismo.

Pastor Malafaia has been accused by the Federal Police of trying to obstruct the judicial investigation against Bolsonaro. As soon as he landed in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday afternoon, fresh from Lisbon, officers intercepted and interrogated him, confiscated his passport, and prohibited him from communicating with Jair and Eduardo Bolsonaro. Pastor Malafaia is the organizer of the large pro-Bolsonaro rallies.

Bolsonaro has been prohibited from using a cellphone, social media, or contacting his son Eduardo. On Saturday, he left house arrest briefly to undergo medical tests at a Brasília hospital. He remains the head of the opposition, although confined to his home and barred from holding office until 2030. The charge of leading a coup against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could carry more than 40 years in prison. Trump has attempted to neutralize the judicial process against his Brazilian ally by imposing a 50% tariff penalty on Brazilian imports and by having the U.S. Treasury Department impose sanctions on Judge Moraes.

Brazil has for days been embroiled in debate over the effects of those sanctions, specifically on whether Brazilian banks should comply with U.S. orders to freeze the controversial judge’s accounts. Moraes argues they cannot. In any case, the stock market has already punished financial institutions with losses even before any concrete steps have been taken.

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