Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Monday demanded “explanations” from Jair Bolsonaro’s legal team after his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, said that he would record a video at CPAC to show his father, who is presently under house arrest recovering from pneumonia.
De Moraes, widely described as Brazil’s most powerful justice, has been at the forefront of a years-long persecution and censorship campaign against former President Bolsonaro, his family, and allies, and served as the rapporteur of the “coup” trial against Bolsonaro that led to his conviction and 27-year prison sentence.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former lawmaker, requested U.S. political asylum last year on the grounds that he was the target of a persecution campaign led by de Moraes. He was formally removed from his democratically elected position by the Brazilian Congress in December after he missed more than 80 percent of the lower house’s sessions following his departure from Brazil.
The younger Bolsonaro participated at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), hosted at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center between March 25-28. During his participation, Bolsonaro pulled up his phone and said that he was recording the stage to let his father see the footage.
“Do you know why I’m doing this video? Because I’m showing it to my father, and I’m going to prove to everyone in Brazil that you cannot shut down a movement by jailing unfairly the leader of this movement, Jair Messias Bolsonaro. Thank you very much,” Eduardo Bolsonaro told his audience at CPAC.
GloboNews reported on Monday that Bolsonaro’s legal team took note of a court order issued by de Moraes in which the justice gave lawyers a 24-hour deadline to explain whether or not Jair Bolsonaro watched a video that Eduardo Bolsonaro said he would record. Since his July 2025, Jair Bolsonaro has been subject to a series of active prohibitions imposed by de Moraes that prevent him from using social media or any kind of phone device.
Last week, de Moraes granted “temporary” house arrest benefits to Bolsonaro after the former president was diagnosed with bacterial bronchopneumonia in both of his lungs, which led to him spending over ten days at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The outlet Poder360 reported that it had obtained a copy of de Moraes’ new requests in which he reiterated that, as part of his orders, Bolsonaro is prohibited from using any kind of phone device or communications device, accessing social media, and recording videos or audios “either directly or through third parties.”
Jair Bolsonaro’s legal team responded to the request on Monday evening. The lawyers reportedly stated that they only became aware of Eduardo Bolsonaro’s actions upon receiving the court order, and had no prior knowledge of the videos circulating on social media. Former President Bolsonaro’s lawyers emphasized to de Moraes that Jair Bolsonaro is strictly and consistently adhering to the conditions of his house arrest and is committed to remaining in full compliance with the terms stablished.
Bolsonaro’s legal team further stated that “there is no objective evidence indicating any current, direct, or indirect communication” with Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, for his part, published a video on social media asserting that de Moraes’ actions seek to “create a narrative” to allegedly target him to say, “look, suddenly Bolsonaro might end up back in a regular prison because of what Eduardo is doing over in the United States.”
“Apparently, the persecution isn’t enough. The mainstream media is still at it. So my message is, ‘I’m not going to stop,’” Eduardo Bolsonaro said. “And, Moraes, you have 129 million other things to worry about. Go deal with your own corruption scandals that disgust the entire Supreme Court.”
The younger Bolsonaro also published a social media post in which he compared de Moraes’s request to recent reports of a letter allegedly written by Venezuela’s deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their detainment at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.
“Who is considered dangerous? Who is having their rights most restricted? Brazilian ‘democracy’ is experiencing a crisis above all moral,” the post read.
Brazil’s top court reportedly summoned Eduardo Bolsonaro to testify via video conference in an upcoming April 14 hearing as part of an ongoing probe into allegations that he and Brazilian journalist Paulo Figueiredo purportedly took actions in the United States aimed at “interfering” with legal proceedings to benefit Jair Bolsonaro. According to CNN Brasil, the STF decided to proceed with the criminal investigation against Eduardo Bolsonaro and Figueiredo after de Moraes ruled out the possibility of summary acquittal.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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