Flávio Bolsonaro flees to the U.S. as Brazilian Supreme Court probes his campaign’s alleged ties to a donor network co-founded by JD Vance

Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States on Tuesday after losing Sunday’s presidential election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He departed in defiance of a separate Supreme Court order, three people with knowledge of the situation told The Washington Post. The same day, a Supreme Court justice directed federal police to examine alleged links between his campaign and a U.S. donor network co-founded by Vice President JD Vance.

Justice Flávio Dino ordered the police to investigate the nature of any contacts between the Rockbridge Network, founded in 2019, and Brazilian companies or political operatives. 

The inquiry seeks to determine whether those contacts involved providing resources, including people, services, or other measurable economic advantages to support or finance Bolsonaro’s run. Brazilian law prohibits a candidate from accepting campaign funding or assistance from a foreign source.

Complaints raised before the election and Rockbridge’s denial

The investigation is intended to establish whether any such resources were actually supplied, along with their origin, destination, and any use in the campaign. The Rockbridge Network denied having any such contact. Vance has addressed Rockbridge donor gatherings as recently as a year ago, and his office declined to comment on Tuesday.

Opponents of Bolsonaro had already flagged concerns about Rockbridge’s alleged role in Brazil ahead of the vote. Lula’s Workers’ Party filed a complaint with the Supreme Court, while Renan Santos, a candidate eliminated in the first round, brought a related case to the Supreme Electoral Court. 

Santos alleged that Brazilians who claimed to represent Rockbridge had discussed offering U.S. support to officials on Bolsonaro’s campaign. According to a person with direct knowledge of the private discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the same representatives also approached Santos with offers of campaign help.

The Rockbridge Network said it has no affiliation with the Brazilians who presented themselves as its agents. In a statement issued Tuesday, the network said, “The Brazilians made false representations about their relationship with Rockbridge and created documents representing or referencing Rockbridge without Rockbridge’s knowledge or consent.”

Before losing to Lula in the elections, Bolsonaro was already facing investigation over his ties to a banker accused of involvement in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud. He was also linked to a man suspected of laundering money connected to Brazil’s betting industry.

The order has the potential to add to strains between the Brazilian government and the Trump administration. Those tensions stem from the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio’s father and a Trump ally. Jair Bolsonaro was accused of planning a military coup to remain in power after his 2022 election loss to Lula.

Last year, Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods and sanctions on several officials in an effort to pressure Brazil to drop the prosecution. Authorities did not. Jair Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting the violent overthrow of the democratic rule of law and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.

During his campaign, Flávio Bolsonaro pledged to free his father, pardon supporters convicted in a January 6-style assault on Brasília, and impeach the Supreme Court justices involved in those cases. A senior State Department official told The Washington Post that Flávio Bolsonaro and his family will be issued visas allowing them to stay in the United States.