TSE Corregidor makes Bolsonaro investigated in new action – 01/19/2023 – Power

The Electoral Corregidor General, Minister Benedito Gonçalves, accepted this Thursday (19) the opening of an electoral judicial investigation action against Jair Bolsonaro (PL) for abuse of political and economic power in the electoral process. The case could lead to the ineligibility of the former president.

The suspicion was taken to the Superior Electoral Court by the coalition headed by the current representative, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who accuses the opponent of carrying out campaign activities in the premises of the Planalto Palace and the Alvorada Palace.

In the decision, Gonçalves highlighted that Bolsonaro already responds to two other investigations as a result of the electoral use of public goods. In this case, for carrying out electoral lives in the palaces, with wide transmission on social networks.

The TSE minister even recalled that in one of these actions there was an injunction (interim and urgent decision) in order to prevent the reiteration of lives.

The then Chief Executive used the premises of the official residence of the Presidents of the Republic, for example, to announce support for allies in the second round of the election —in violation of electoral law, according to specialists consulted by the Sheet.

According to the indictment, Bolsonaro used palaces as a “meeting stage” with governors, federal deputies and celebrities and made use of “all the furniture in the public building”, in flagrant distortion of the purpose of public goods.

When analyzing the arguments presented by the PT coalition, Gonçalves understood that there are elements for opening the electoral investigation action. In addition to Bolsonaro, the vice-presidential candidate Walter Braga Netto (PL) is also cited and is now being investigated.

“It remains clear that the narrative of the initial petition [pedido de investigação]in theory, is likely to conform to the typical figure of abuse of political power, with sufficient elements to authorize the investigation of the facts and their seriousness in the context of the 2022 elections,” said Gonçalves.

A period of five days was set for the two to present arguments in their defense. Lula’s coalition should be subpoenaed to provide a new address for quoting Bolsonaro.

The magistrate recalled that the legislation authorizes the use of the official residence by the president who seeks re-election as long as three requirements are met: he can only make contacts, meetings and meetings, that is, commitments in which he addresses direct interlocutors; dealings must be relevant to your own campaign; and these agendas cannot have the “character of a public act”.

According to the magistrate, “unrestricted authorization was not granted to convert public goods for the private use of the heads of the Executive, funded by the Treasury, into goods made available, without reservations, at the convenience of the campaign for re-election”.

After the first round, Bolsonaro held daily announcements at the Alvorada Palace, in which he received public endorsements from re-elected governors such as Romeu Zema (Novo) of Minas Gerais and Ratinho Jr. (PSD), from Paraná. The meetings were widely publicized on social networks.