Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro said in his first interview since leaving Brazil that he believes he will be imprisoned. He remains under investigation but has not been formally charged. (Foto: Instagram)
In his first interview since leaving Brazil for the United States, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro said he believes he will be imprisoned. The New York Times published the interview on Thursday, Nov. 5. Asked about investigations in Brazil, Bolsonaro, the son of Jair Bolsonaro, said, “I already know the final outcome will be my imprisonment.”
Bolsonaro is under investigation but has not been formally charged in Brazil. That could change early next year, the report said, when his Senate term ends and he loses parliamentary immunity. He denied receiving help to leave Brazil on Oct. 27 and claimed responsibility for arranging the trip, saying, “It was all my doing.” He also said, “Absolutely no one helped—not any government.”
However, Jason Miller, a White House communications adviser, said he had arranged the jet Bolsonaro used. The report said that the Trump administration’s involvement in the departure had been confirmed. Bolsonaro left Brazil with his wife, Fernanda, and their daughters, Luiz and Carolina, two days after losing the year’s presidential election runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The senator first stopped in Argentina, then traveled on a private flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador. After a brief stop, the aircraft continued to Miami, Florida, landing on the morning of Oct. 28. The trip took place after Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ordered Bolsonaro’s passports seized and barred him from leaving the country. Justice Alexandre de Moraes signed the order based on Federal Police warnings that Bolsonaro might flee to avoid investigations; according to the report, he left hours after the order. The investigations concern alleged corruption, money laundering and foreign-exchange evasion.
