Bolsonaro recorded trying to shield son from investigation

A Supreme Court justice on Monday unsealed an audio recording made by Congressman Alexandre Ramagem, a former head of Brazil’s intelligence agency, during an August 2020 meeting with then-President Jair Bolsonaro. 

The recording reveals Mr. Bolsonaro discussing sensitive intelligence to help his eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, avoid criminal prosecution, adding to the growing body of evidence against him across multiple investigations. The former president is also being investigated for forging vaccination records, embezzling jewelry gifted to the Brazilian state, and inciting a seditious movement.

At the time of the recording, Senator Bolsonaro was under investigation for allegedly running a scheme to embezzle taxpayer money by hiring people who agreed to kick back a share of their salary. 

The fact that the audio was recorded by Mr. Ramagem was disclosed last week, when the Supreme Court unsealed a Federal Police report on an investigation into the misuse of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) under Mr. Bolsonaro. However, the audio and a transcript of the meeting were only made available last night.

The recording shows Mr. Bolsonaro discussing the case with two of his son’s attorneys, Luciana Pires and Juliana Bierrenbach. Retired Army General Augusto Heleno, Mr. Bolsonaro’s top security official at the time, whose office oversaw Abin, also attended the meeting.

During a now-infamous cabinet meeting in April 2020, Mr. Bolsonaro expressed frustration at his inability to obtain information from the police and boasted about his own “private” intelligence service. 

Mr. Ramagem, a career Federal Police officer, is running an underdog campaign for mayor of Rio de Janeiro as Mr. Bolsonaro’s handpicked candidate, trailing far behind incumbent Eduardo Paes in the polls. 

The revelation that Mr. Ramagem recorded Mr. Bolsonaro without his knowledge has not disrupted their campaign schedule; Mr. Bolsonaro has not canceled any campaign events to endorse Mr. Ramagem.

In January, during an earlier phase of the investigation, Mr. Ramagem was the target of a search and seizure warrant. The Supreme Court decision authorizing last week’s stage of the operation mentions him 46 times.

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