On January 8, Brazil launched an investigation into former President Jair Bolsonaro and close advisors for allegedly plotting a coup to undermine the country’s democratic process. Codenamed Operation Tempus Veritatis, under the authorization of the Supreme Federal Court, this operation has, as a result, ordered Bolsonaro to forfeit his passport, remain within Brazil’s borders and have no contact with other individuals under investigation.
At the core of this investigation is a supposed draft decree, allegedly given to Bolsonaro by former international affairs adviser Filipe Martins and lawyer Amauri Feres Saad. This plan purportedly outlined a coup d’etat strategy, which included arresting Supreme Court justices Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes, and Senate head Rodrigo Pacheco, while also proposing new elections to reverse the 2022 presidential election results.
The operation involves 33 search and seizure warrants, four preventive arrest warrants, and 48 precautionary measures. Notable individuals under investigation include former Chief of Staff General Walter Souza Braga Netto, former Defense Minister General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, ex- Justice and Public Security Minister Anderson Torres and Filipe Martins, who was apprehended during a raid.
The conservative Liberal Party, which Bolsonaro was previously affiliated with, is also implicated through a search and seizure order executed at its Brasília headquarters. The party’s President, Valdemar Costa Neto, is also under investigation.
The Prosecutor-General, Paulo Gonet, has endorsed the operation, stating that the actions of the implicated aimed to unlawfully keep Bolsonaro in power by nullifying the election results.
The event at the center of the operation was the storming of Brazil’s National Congress, Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), and presidential buildings shortly after the inauguration of left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Now known as the January 8 riots, these occurrences led to a nationwide investigation by the Brazilian Federal Police in an effort to safeguard the country’s democracy.