Bolsonaro allegedly consulted attorney‑general on overturning election
Brazil’s former Attorney-General Bruno Bianco confirmed at the Supreme Court on Thursday (May 29) that then President Jair Bolsonaro asked him, in a meeting after the 2022 elections, about any problems that could be used to overturn the result of the polls.
Bianco was heard as a witness for the defense of former Justice Minister Anderson Torres, who is a defendant in the criminal case about the coup plot that allegedly operated to keep Bolsonaro in power even after his defeat.
“There was a meeting,” Bianco said in response to the Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who asked him if Bolsonaro had inquired after the second round of voting about any “legal possibility of reversing the results of the polls.”
“Regarding the matter you’re asking me about, there was a meeting,” Bianco reiterated. “That meeting was specifically about how the election had taken place, whether there were any legal problems.”
According to Bianco, the then president asked him at the time, after a presser on government transition, if the former attorney-general saw any legal avenue that could be used to challenge the result of the polls.
“‘Do you see any problems that could be questioned?’” Bianco quoted Bolsonaro as saying. “I replied that, from my point of view, the election had taken place correctly, without any kind of legal problem.”
“I said no, that everything was done transparently,” Bianco stressed. “The president, at least in front of me, seemed satisfied.”
Bolsonaro’s consultation with Bianco had been mentioned in a statement made by the former commander of the Air Force, Carlos de Almeida Baptista Júnior, to the Federal Police.
Still during the police investigation into the coup, Baptista Júnior said he had witnessed the former president ask whether there were any “legal alternatives” to overturn the result of the elections. According to the report, the meeting took place on November 1, 2022.
On Thursday, Bianco gave his first public testimony, confirming the meeting and the presence of the three commanders of the Armed Forces at the time—Army General Freire Gomes, Air Force Brigadier Baptista Júnior, and Navy iral Almir Garnier.
The then minister of defense, retired Army General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, was also in attendance, Bianco revealed. He said he could not , however, whether former Justice Minister Anderson Torres was present.
The meeting
In addition to the onetime attorney-general, two major officials under Bolsonaro were heard on Thursday: Wagner Rosário, former head of the Office of the Comptroller-General, and Adolfo Sachsida, former minister of mines and energy.
Both were questioned about the ministerial meeting on July 5, 2022, in which Bolsonaro urged the ministers present to commit to questioning the electoral process. A video of the meeting surfaced in February 2024.
Asked if any coup-related topics were discussed at the time, Sachsida and Rosário denied it, as did Bianco.
“No, no sir, we did not have any discussions about that. All the discussions were about possible weaknesses in the electronic voting system, the technology system, which may malfunction. So [discussions] were all aimed at having a reliable election result,” Rosário said in his reply.
Former Economy Minister Paulo Guedes was also expected to speak, but was dismissed by Torres’ lawyers.
The case
The criminal action under consideration was opened after the first of the Supreme Court accepted the section of the prosecutor-general’s complaint on the so-called “crucial nucleus” of the coup plot—a group made up of the masterminds behind the scheme.
Among the defendants in this criminal action is Bolsonaro himself, named by the prosecutor as the leader and main beneficiary of the conspiracy, plus seven other former ministers of his government as well as close advisers.
The witnesses in the case began to be heard on May 19 through videoconferencing. A new hearing is scheduled for Friday (30) at 8 am, with other defense witnesses for Anderson Torres and also with São Paulo Governor Tarcísio Gomes, listed by Bolsonaro’s defense.
On Friday afternoon (30), at 2 pm, eight more of Bolsonaro’s witnesses are scheduled to testify—including former ministers Gilson Machado (tourism) and Eduardo Pazuello (health).
The hearings will be chaired by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur in the case. In an order, he banned any kind of recording of the sessions. Journalists are allowed to follow the proceedings from the room of the first , in the Supreme Court building.
