Brazil: Whistleblower Testifies Bolsonaro Read, Edited Coup Draft
By Andre Richter
Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid confirmed on Monday (Jun. 9) that he was present at a meeting where former President Jair Bolsonaro was presented with a document calling for a state of siege and the arrest of Supreme Court justices and other authorities in 2022.
A former aide-de-camp to Jair Bolsonaro, Cid was the first defendant from nucleus 1 of the coup plot to be questioned by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the rapporteur of the criminal case. The military officer is also cooperating as a whistleblower in the investigation.
During his testimony, Cid confirmed that there were at least two meetings in which Felipe Martins, Bolsonaro’s former international affairs advisor, presented the former president with a document proposing a coup to overturn the results of the 2022 elections.
During the meeting, Bolsonaro read the draft and proposed changes to the document, according to the military officer.
“This document was presented to the president. It consisted of two parts. The first part contained the recitals—ten, eleven, twelve pages—very detailed. These recitals outlined the possible interference of the Supreme Court and the Superior Electoral Court in the Bolsonaro government and the elections. The second part addressed more legal matters, such as a state of defense, a state of siege, and the arrest of authorities,” he stated.
Mauro Cid also confirmed the content of the plea bargain statements given to the Federal Police and denied having been under any kind of pressure to sign the plea bargain agreement.
“I witnessed most of the facts, but I didn’t take part in them,” he said.
Interrogations
Between June 9 and 13, Alexandre de Moraes will question former president Jair Bolsonaro, Braga Netto, and six other defendants accused of being part of the “crucial nucleus” of a plot to prevent former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 elections.
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