(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s electoral court is investigating outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, his running mate and some allies for allegedly casting doubt on the result of the October election and abusing their power during the campaign.
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Justice Benedito Gonçalves, general inspector of the court, opened the investigation on Wednesday to analyze allegations presented by the coalition of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The coalition’s lawyers claim that Bolsonaro and his allies sought to discredit and destabilize the presidential election, spreading fake news and misinformation about the integrity of the voting system. They also say the conservative leader abused his political and economic power by increasing social benefits and making early payments to poor Brazilians in a bid to boost his reelection chances.
“Those under investigation made efforts to spread fake news about the electronic voting system and attack the electoral and the top courts, with the clear goal of undermining voters’ confidence,” Gonçalves wrote in his decision to open the probe.
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He gave five days for Bolsonaro and his allies to present their defense.
Bolsonaro’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The office of his running mate, General Walter Braga Netto, declined to comment.
Search Warrants
In a separate case, the federal police said on Thursday it was carrying out 81 search and seizure warrants against people who sought to overturn the election’s result by calling for military intervention and blocking highways across the country.
The warrants, issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, target Bolsonaro’s supporters in seven Brazilian states and the federal district, according to a police statement.
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During the campaign, Moraes ordered police to search the homes of businesspeople who had shared messages in a private WhatsApp group defending a coup d’etat in case a of a victory by Lula.
(Updates with federal police carrying out search and seizure warrants starting in seventh paragraph.)
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