TSE targets ‘body of work’ in action against Bolsonaro – 03/16/2023 – Bruno Boghossian

The TSE listened to former minister Anderson Torres for an hour and a half about the coup draft that he kept at home. Jair Bolsonaro’s ally made light of the paperwork. He called the document garbage, even though it was in a government folder, and said the text was folklore, although his boss admits that he was looking for a way out of defeat at the polls.

The court did not expect anything different from Torres, a loyal Bolsonarist. But the testimony fulfilled a step in the plan to make the draft a centerpiece of the action that could make Bolsonaro ineligible.

The TSE gained an understanding that an isolated analysis of the former president’s conduct —such as the attack on the ballot boxes in front of ambassadors— would be insufficient to punish him. Bolsonaro would be more vulnerable to a judgment that takes into account the “body of work”, in the words of a minister.

The decision of Corregidor Benedito Gonçalves to include the draft in the investigation for abuse of power is described as a “cat jump”. The move would make it possible to consider a package with the attacks on the ballot boxes, the use of the government to help Bolsonaro’s campaign and reduce confidence in the vote, and the testing of a concrete action to spoil the election (represented by the coup document).

The outcome depends on the timing and composition of the court in the coming months. Part of the TSE would like to hear the case before Ricardo Lewandowski retires, in early May, when Kassio Nunes Marques can take his place.

The fear circulated in the court that a pro-Bolsonaro minister could indefinitely suspend the process with a request for a review. At the end of February, however, the TSE closed this loophole and established a maximum period of 60 days for any action to return to plenary.

One wing is still working to ensure that the plenary has a majority aligned with President Alexandre de Moraes. The idea is to seek this profile to nominate the two jurists who are part of the court after the end of the current mandates, also in May.

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