Brazilian police raid Bolsonaro and his allies over attempted coup

Brazil's federal police carried out a sweeping operation Thursday against former President Jair Bolsonaro and many of his closest advisers and former ministers as part of an investigation into attempts to overturn Brazil's 2022 elections.

Federal police said they executed 33 search warrants and four arrest warrants. The agency said it would order another 15 people to hand over their passports, not leave the country and not contact other people under investigation.

Mr Bolsonaro was targeted by the operation and would surrender his passport within 24 hours, the former president's spokesman said.

The raids also targeted Brazil's former defense minister, former intelligence chief, former justice minister and former navy chief, Bolsonaro's running mate and the head of his political party.

Police said the raids were part of a number of wide-ranging investigations into the former president and his allies, including suspicions of an attempted coup; attacks on Brazil's electoral systems; attacks on Covid-19 vaccines; falsifying vaccination data; and stealing government funds and foreign gifts to the president.

Months ahead of Brazil's 2022 elections, Mr Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the security of his country's election systems and warned that if he lost it would be the result of fraud.

When he effectively lost to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro refused to concede unequivocally and his supporters staged months of protests that culminated in a January 2023 riot at Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential offices.

Mr Bolsonaro has already been barred from running until 2030 due to his attempts to undermine Brazil's voting systems. But Thursday's operation suggests authorities believe the former president and his allies had mounted a more coordinated effort to retain power after his election loss.

Mr Bolsonaro said on Thursday that he was the innocent victim of a politically motivated operation.

“I left the government more than a year ago and I continue to suffer brutal persecution.” the former president told Folha de São Paulo, a Brazilian newspaper. “Forget me. There is already someone else running the country.”

This is a development story.

Julia Vargas Jones contributed reporting from New York.