Allies of President Luiz Inácio da Silva (PT) assess that the Federal Police operation against the government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), could provide a defense speech for (PL), who was caught in conversations with former banker Daniel Vorcaro to obtain resources for a film about former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
Faced with this scenario, these allies are still awaiting guidance from Lula on how to react to the police action which, among other points, highlighted suspicions that Wagner had
A wing of the government believes that Wagner will hand over the position of government leader, in a gesture to preserve the PT administration. He has not yet spoken to the president about the issue, according to people close to him.
Returning from France, where he participated in the G7 meeting, Lula arrived in Brazil at 5 am this Thursday (18). The expectation in Planalto is that Lula will reiterate his speech in favor of the operations initiated under his own government and make a request for explanations from Wagner. Lula had already questioned Wagner, in private meetings, about news about his relationship with Augusto Lima, Vorcaro’s former partner.
According to reports, on these occasions the senator reassured the president, stating that he had no involvement in the case. One of the arguments was that the suspected commercial relationships occurred during the Bolsonaro administration.
Lula’s ministers say they are surprised between Wagner and Augusto Lima’s family nucleus.
These allies admit that Flávio Bolsonaro will use the case in his defense, under the argument that the scandal affects politicians of different stripes. PT communications secretary and member of the campaign coordination, Éden Valadares anticipated the Bolsonarist attacks, publishing text on the networks in support of the ally.
“The person who authorized Banco Master was the Bolsonaro government. The person who is close to Daniel Vorcaro, visited him even after his arrest and considers him as a ‘brother’ is Flávio Bolsonaro. The person who received millions of reais from this scheme was the Bolsonaro family. The attempt to equate these relationships and falsely create the idea that the BolsoMaster scandal affects all Brazilian political fields equally is innocuous and reveals the degree of desperation of Flávio — who was caught in a lie, lost his little credibility he had and sees his campaign dwindling day by day”, he stated.
At the state level, allies say, this Thursday’s operation has no potential to shake up the dispute over the government of Bahia, since PT’s opponents also maintained a relationship with Banco Master.
Aides remember that Lula had the opportunity to remove Wagner from his role as leader of the Senate government after rejecting the name of the head of the AGU (Attorney General of the Union), Jorge Messias, for the STF (Supreme Federal Court). But he kept him in office.
A carries out 18 search and seizure warrants in a new phase of Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates irregularities related to Daniel Vorcaro and .
The warrants were issued by the minister of Bahia, São Paulo and the Federal District.
Another target is the. Searches were carried out at addresses linked to both in Salvador and at a hotel in Brasília where Wagner lives.
