Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro left the country for the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports, two sources said.
The State Department will issue visas to Bolsanaro and his family and allow them to enter the United States, a senior U.S. State Department official confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday afternoon.
Bolsonaro’s lawyer also declined to comment.
Bolsonaro was favored to win Sunday’s presidential election, but ended up losing in a shock result to left-wing incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On Monday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports as part of a money laundering investigation in which he denies any wrongdoing, but that deadline expired, two other sources said, leading to the cancellation of his documents.
Flavio’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, also visited the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022.
He eventually returned to Brazil, but was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup. His son has yet to officially acknowledge his defeat – saying on Sunday that he would seek the annulment of the result due to alleged electoral irregularities – but his liberal party said on Monday that it recognized Lula’s victory.
A senior Brazilian federal police official said Bolsonaro did not leave the country via any regular migration points.
Right-wing influencer Paulo Figueiredo, who serves as something of an unofficial spokesperson for the Bolsonaro family, has refused to answer questions about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts.
“After months of intense work that was unfairly thwarted, I am not in the mood to speak to the press,” he said in a message. “If I have any comments on any subject, I will contact you.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro’s younger brother who lives in the United States, said before the vote that an election defeat would require a decision.
“If my brother doesn’t win, I’m in favor of him leaving the country,” he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month.
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