Bolsonaro at TSE: understand action report in 6 points – 06/22/2023 – Politics

The first day of the trial, which could make former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) ineligible for eight years, began with the reading of the report by Minister Benedito Gonçalves, rapporteur for the action and Electoral Inspector General.

The action focuses on a meeting with ambassadors held by the then president less than three months before the first round, when Bolsonaro made false and distorted statements about the electoral process, claiming to be based on official data, in addition to seeking to discredit TSE ministers (Court Superior Electoral).

Understand the main points of the report.

What is the report?

The document does not include the rapporteur’s position on the action, it is just a summary of everything that has happened since it was filed in August last year. With arguments presented by the PDT, author of the action, which was alleged or contested by Bolsonaro’s defense and with the position of the Electoral Attorney General, who was in favor of Bolsonaro’s ineligibility.

What is Bolsonaro accused of and what is his defense?

For the PDT, there was a misuse of purpose in a meeting held by Bolsonaro with ambassadors at the Palácio da Alvorada in July 2022. It would have been used for electoral purposes, given that Bolsonaro would have broadcast a speech in which he attacks the electronic voting system, which would be part of of your campaign strategy.

One of Bolsonaro’s lines of defense was to maintain that the speeches at the event were made as head of state and as an act of government, not having an electoral nature, with the aim of dispelling doubts about the transparency of the electoral process. He also refutes the disclosure of false data about the electronic process and that Bolsonaro’s speeches would have been based on documents.

Core issue of the action

The minister delimits in the action what he understands to be the controversial issues to be discussed in the trial, pointing out that there is no discussion about holding the meeting with the ambassadors. The controversy, according to the rapporteur, “relies on the circumstances in which the meeting was held and in which it was publicized on the networks”.

The minister then states that the seriousness of the conduct should be analyzed based on the evidence included in the action. To analyze the severity, the degree of disapproval of the conduct and its repercussion in the context of the election would be considered.

Decisions already made by the TSE

Part of the points questioned by Bolsonaro’s defense in the final allegations were the subject of a decision by the TSE plenary throughout the process. The court refuted, for example, the defensive thesis that the Electoral Justice would be incompetent for the subject of the action. The minister explains that he chose to submit preliminary questions to the plenary, because they were arguments that, if accepted, could lead to the extinction of the action itself.

According to the minister, the allegation that Bolsonaro’s speech to the ambassadors would not be electoral in nature should be discussed on the merits, because it presupposes that there is no distortion of the meeting for electoral purposes.

defense draft

There was also a decision on the inclusion of the draft of the state of defense decree found in the house of Anderson Torres, Bolsonaro’s former minister, which was endorsed by the ministers. Bolsonaro’s defense maintains that the draft of the State of Defense decree cannot be admitted as evidence, arguing among other things that it “does not truly constitute a ‘document’, since it is not signed, it does not show identification that it produced it”.

The ministers understood that elements that are intended to demonstrate developments of the facts originally narrated in the action could be admitted to the process and considered in the judgment. At the time, a guideline was also approved, giving shelter to the inclusion of new documents in the action.

Evidence included in the action

In addition to the video of the meeting with ambassadors held by Bolsonaro and which motivated the action of the PDT and the draft of the state of defense decree, lives from 2021 were incorporated in which Bolsonaro made attacks on the electoral system, documents of inquiries, reports on the electoral system and witness testimonies.

Part of this evidence was included by the rapporteur without the parties’ request. In electoral judicial investigation actions (Aijes), such as the one Bolsonaro is targeting, the role of the judge is provided for in the law, discussion of possible extrapolation depends on the understanding of whether or not there is a “new fact” in the evidence included.