Brazil attorney general says meddling ‘cannot be tolerated’ after Trump funding plans revealed

Key Points:

• Brazil’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, condemned foreign interference in Brazil’s institutions and democracy following a Guardian report that the Trump administration sought to fund a campaign against the Brazilian supreme court.
• Messias emphasized that Brazil’s sovereignty and democratic process must be protected from external political influence, especially with the presidential election just days away between incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Trump ally Flávio Bolsonaro.
• The attorney general’s office filed a criminal complaint to investigate potential wrongdoing linked to the reported attempt to allocate over $175 million from the US State Department’s human rights fund to groups opposing Brazil’s supreme court.
• The controversy centers around a $1 million grant proposal titled “Countering lawfare and censorship in Brazil,” aimed at supporting civil society groups opposing judicial actions by the supreme court, which Bolsonaro’s far-right movement views as a political adversary.
• The political tension is heightened by past and ongoing allegations of corruption and judicial overreach involving justice Alexandre de Moraes and connections to Daniel Vorcaro, a banker linked to the Bolsonaro family and currently in federal custody.