Brazil's ex-military chiefs told police Bolsonaro discussed coup in 2022, sources say

Brazil's ex-military chiefs confirm Bolsonaro discussed preventing power handover, facing criminal probes, and potential indictment.

The former heads of Brazil's Army and Air Force have confirmed to federal police that ex-President Jair Bolsonaro discussed a draft decree to prevent the handover of power after the 2022 election, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Their testimonies, delivered to investigators in recent weeks, augur badly for Mr. Bolsonaro, whose political career looks finished and is now widely seen as battling to stay out of jail.

Mr. Bolsonaro has been ruled politically ineligible until 2030 for spreading electoral misinformation during the 2022 campaign, and recently had his passport seized by police probing his efforts to cling onto power after he lost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the election.

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Last week, former Army chief Marco Antonio Freire Gomes told police in a seven-hour deposition that there were discussions with Mr. Bolsonaro over a draft decree that could have prevented Lula's inauguration, two sources said.

That followed testimony from former Air Force chief Carlos Baptista Junior, who last month also told police about the discussions with Bolsonaro on ways to prevent Lula taking power, one of the sources said.

"I've spoken with various sources over the last 48 hours. I'm certain. There is nothing concrete against the president," Mr. Bolsonaro family spokesman Fabio Wajngarten wrote on X, adding that he had not yet had access to the ex-military chiefs' testimonies.