Allies of () evaluate that the former president was able to take advantage of the (Supreme Court) in the case for attempted coup to convey to the public outside the court what would be a positive image, with apology and jokes with Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
For these Bolsonaro interlocutors, the episode can help you reinforce in some groups the perception that interrogation was a purely formal rite to condemn it. Still, they claim that the former president was able to present himself with a lighter image and deconstruct arguments presented by the PGR (Attorney General’s Office).
In the statement, on Tuesday (10), Bolsonaro admitted for the first time the Supreme Court studied with the heads of the Armed Forces possibilities of interference in the results of the elections after the defeat to President Lula (PT) in 2022.
According to this interpretation, the former president would have made gestures to try to gain sympathy from an audience that can go beyond his supporters. In the opinion of people close to Bolsonaro, the former president would have shown humility for Moraes, reinforced an informal image to and presented arguments to move away from responsibility for January 8 attacks.
“Fantastic his testimony. If he has an exempt, fair judgment, it is for him to be acquitted. Because it was all the narrative that had been created by pressure on top of the [Mauro] Cid, who, in my head, invented a lot, “he told Sheet The Senator (PL-RJ) over the father.
“But the most important part, for me, was the deconstruction of January 8th. In the world, more than a thousand cell phones were seized, expert, has no incentive, message exchange, to deal with January 8. Cid himself confirms, in his assessment, that this was never treated, and this is true.”
One of Bolsonaro’s main political victories in the testimony, for former president’s interlocutors, was to have said he and two other STF ministers, and would be making money to favor Lula in the elections.
“I’m sorry, I was not intended to accuse any misappropriation of the masters. My rhetoric was talking that way. This meeting was not supposed to be recorded, it was reserved. Someone recorded in bad faith, otherwise I wouldn’t be explaining here now,” Bolsonaro said in the interrogation.
According to allies, the act can be seen as a display of humility and, to some extent, improve the reaction of the public to it. One of the biggest fears was precisely that he was annoyed by the minister’s questions and reinforced an authoritarian tone – which did not occur.
Those with Bolsonaro in recent days reported his concern about the statement and said he is aware of the severity of the case, including the possibility of being arrested at the end of the process.
At the beginning of the statement, which lasted about two hours, the former president appeared to be nervous and a little hoarse. Then he even played with Moraes, inviting him to be his deputy in 2026, even ineligible. The minister replied that he would decline the proposal.
According to an ally, the former president’s apparent relaxation would also be important to show him as accessible to those who attend the testimony. On another front, he followed the line of the defense strategy, not to deny the evidence presented by PGR, but give his own explanation.
They claim that Bolsonaro and CID have misrepresented notions of legality to justify scammer discussions that would aim to prevent Lula’s possession.
An example of this, they say, was the speech that Bolsonaro repeated to have always acted within the limits of the Constitution while admitted to talking about “alternatives” as a state of siege – a legal context that did not justify the measure, as there is no prediction that it is used to reverse electoral result.
During the Tuesday session, former Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira, who is also a defendant, on the severity of the decree of exception measures after Lula’s victory.
“After the meeting ended [de 7 de dezembro de 2022]I arrived at the president, the [comandante do Exército] Freire Gomes was by my side. We warned of gravity if he was thinking of a state of defense and state of siege, “said the general.
