Aide says Bolsonaro floated Brazil coup with military officers after election -reports

Media outlets O Globo and UOL reported Mauro Cid’s comments to police in a cooperation deal

A close aide to Jair Bolsonaro told police the former Brazilian president met with senior military officers last year to discuss a military intervention to overturn the election result after he lost, newspaper O Globo and news website UOL reported on Thursday.

Bolsonaro’s former aide, Mauro Cid, agreed to cooperate with Federal Police, who are investigating the former president for possible crimes, from embezzlement to inciting his supporters’ January riots in the capital Brasilia. Police have kept Cid’s testimony confidential as they investigate.

According to Thursday’s reports, which did not cite their sources, Cid allegedly told police that Bolsonaro sounded out commanders of the armed forces about a draft decree to overturn the election.

Lawyers for Cid and Bolsonaro did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports. Federal Police said they do not comment on ongoing investigations.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes earlier this month authorized the cooperation deal between Cid and the police, releasing him from jail, where he has been since May when he was arrested as part of an investigation into the suspected forgery of Bolsonaro’s COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Bolsonaro is accused of forging an election denial movement that culminated with the January 8 storming of government buildings in Brasilia by thousands of his supporters. He has already been banned from seeking office until 2030 by Brazil’s federal electoral court.

You may also be interested in: Brazil’s Supreme Court convicts first defendant in January 8 coup trial

—Reuters

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