The crisis generated by (-RJ)’s relationship with , owner of , led the senator’s pre-campaign to change , a friend of the pre-candidate and former police officer.
Marcello released a note, this Wednesday (20), stating that he will no longer collaborate with the pre-campaign. Publicist Eduardo Fischer is the new person in charge of assembling the communications team.
In a statement, Marcello stated that he met with Flávio throughout this Wednesday and informed the senator that he will no longer lead the team. “The publicist, who is a personal friend of the congressman, decided, at this moment, to focus on the company itself and prioritize his business. Lopes returns to the United States to fulfill his family agenda”, says the statement.
The change in pre-campaign command is based on the internal assessment that the reaction to the campaign was poor. As shown by Sheetwho complained about the delay, Flávio’s lack of transparency and loose ends in the narrative.
Even before the crisis with Vorcaro, the PL leadership was already pushing for Marcello’s departure. Since last week, however, the replacement has gained momentum among Flávio’s assistants.
Days before the connection between Flávio and Vorcaro broke out, which increased the publicist’s internal stress. The marketer appears in the document as one of the strategists of the social media attack plan against the Central Bank hired by Vorcaro in 2025 and received R$650,000 at the time of the action. Marcello said he was surprised by the mention and claimed not to have participated in the case.
Before leaving the pre-campaign, Marcello was preparing a restructuring to try to respond more promptly to possible future scandals.
Although Flávio says that contacts with Vorcaro were limited to the million-dollar request to finance the film “”, the center’s leaders are betting that there is more to come. This Tuesday (19), for example, after he was arrested for the first time.
In recent days, still under Marcello’s command, the pre-campaign carried out a series of surveys to calculate the extent of the damage.
According to people with knowledge of these internal surveys, a survey shows that the majority of those interviewed believe that the senator was wrong to ask Vorcaro for sponsorship for the film about (PL), but that the majority also say that he did not receive financial advantages from the owner of Master.
In relation to the tight dispute with the president (PT), the pre-campaign has been following daily variations in voting intentions, the so-called tracking. At this point, the internal numbers indicate the calcification of the polarized electorate, loyal to the Bolsonarist or the PT member, which can decide the election.
To try to fill gaps, mainly regarding the path of the money, Flávio stated that he asked the American fund that received Vorcaro’s funds and the Brazilian producer to present, within 30 days, an accounting detailing the expenses with the film.
The fund is controlled by allies of the former deputy (PL-SP) and is based in Texas, USA. The investigation is whether the resources belonged to Eduardo in the United States, where he has lived since February 2025, which the two brothers deny.
This week, Flávio scheduled meetings in Brasília to explain himself to the benches of federal deputies and PL senators, and in São Paulo, to try to calm financial market agents.
In the meantime, the pre-candidate, who had previously been hiding his relationship with Vorcaro even from close politicians, admitted to congressmen the visit to the former banker before this was revealed by the press.
The change in the communications team comes after the two interviews that Flávio gave after the scandal came to light, last Wednesday (13). The pre-campaign assessment was that it did not help to spread Flávio’s message, but at least it signaled to voters that he had nothing to hide.
From the second interview, given to CNN Brasil, Flávio managed to equalize negative and positive reactions on the networks, according to his team.
Regarding the political repercussions, Flávio’s allies minimize the impact of the crisis. They state that the PL bench has demonstrated support, engagement and willingness — and that it is understood within the party that there will be no replacement by another candidate.
Before the crisis with the Master, the pre-campaign already. Journalist Alexandre Oltramari and publicist Toninho Neto were hired.
