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🎖️ Plot at the Palace
We analyze Jair Bolsonaro’s interrogation in the Supreme Court’s coup-plotting case. Antitrust authorities are set to weigh in on the media’s fight with Google. Hugo Motta learns more about his power as speaker of the House.
Gustavo Ribeiro & Isabela Cruz
June 11, 2025
DEMOCRACY
One step closer to Bolsonaro’s coup trial
Former President Jair Bolsonaro (background, left) and former Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira (background, right) watch as co-defendant Mauro Cid answers questions. Photo: Ton Molina/STF
During an interrogation before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, former President Jair Bolsonaro admitted that he had discussed exceptional measures with military leaders in the waning days of his presidency.
By his own account, the measures included scenarios of overturning the 2022 election that brought leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva back to power. Bolsonaro denied he ever intended to carry out a coup, but he confirmed — very much on the record — that the idea had been seriously debated.
On Monday, Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid — Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man, now cooperating with the authorities — testified that top Armed Forces commanders openly deliberated the legality, logistics and timing of an illegal power grab.
Bolsonaro stopped short of calling those discussions a coup attempt, claiming instead that he merely explored other options after losing confidence in the electoral court.
Bolsonaro said he considered drastic measures, claiming Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court was “closed off” to his appeals against the 2022 election result. His party was fined BRL 22 million (USD 3.95 million) for bad-faith litigation after failing to substantiate claims of fraud in the voting system.
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