TSE suspends Lula's campaign against Flávio Bolsonaro

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has ordered the immediate suspension of an electoral propaganda carried by the campaign of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) which says that Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) is being investigated for corruption and money laundering in the case of Banco Master. The decision was signed by the president of TSE, Minister Nunes Marques, and responds to a request from the coalition of Flávio Bolsonaro.

In the decision, the minister states that the propaganda brings "criminal charges devoid of minimum ballast, in a communication space of national reach and funded by society." The content also states that Flávio's deputy, Alfredo Gaspar, is the subject of an investigation for rape of a vulnerable person, but the request for an investigation was filed for lack of elements to support the complaint.

The Context of the Election Dispute

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) will contest the second round of the presidential elections on October 25. The suspended propaganda was part of the petist campaign and was broadcast on the national network.

The decision of TSE represents a setback for Lula’s campaign, which sought to associate the opponent with criminal investigations. The court found that the charges had no minimum basis for being disclosed in free election time.

Research on Flavio and the Banco Master

According to the decision, the Federal Police investigates suspected money laundering, currency evasion, corruption and other possible crimes that were allegedly committed, in thesis, by Flávio Bolsonaro in the context of financing the film with Daniel Vorcaro, owner of the extinct Banco Master.

Flávio is investigated by PF in an open investigation to ascertain the possible practice of crimes related to the financing by Daniel Vorcaro in the production of the film "Dark Horse", about the trajectory of the former president Jair Bolsonaro. The banker helped fund the film, and the negotiations involved direct contact with the former president's eldest son, who asked for money and pressed for payments.

Details of film funding

The film "Dark Horse" gained notoriety after the disclosure, by the Intercept Brasil website, of conversations between Flávio Bolsonaro and Daniel Vorcaro, in which the son of the former president requests resources to finance the film production. Vorcaro even paid R$ 61 million to the producers of the film, via the Estados Unidos.

In all, Flávio Bolsonaro would have negotiated the transfer of US$ 24 million, about R$ 134 million at the time, to finance the production. These values are subject to investigation by the Federal Police, but they have not yet resulted in a formal complaint against the senator.

Accusation against Flavio's vice

The propaganda also cited Alfredo Gaspar, deputy in the Flávio Bolsonaro plate, as a target of investigation for rape of vulnerable. However, the Federal Police received a request to open an investigation against Gaspar, following suspicions involving Senator Soraya Thronicke and Deputy Lindbergh Farias, but Minister Gilmar Mendes, of STF, ordered the filing of the count for lack of elements to support the complaint.

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) had already expressed its rejection of the request to open an investigation. Thus, the accusation against Gaspar has no legal backing, which reinforced the decision of the TSE to suspend the propaganda.

Next steps

The Lula campaign can appeal the decision, but the propaganda remains suspended until further analysis. The case highlights the tension between electoral freedom of expression and the legal limits for criminal charges during the campaign period.

The Boca no Trombone portal will continue to follow the developments of this judicial dispute and its impacts in the second round of the presidential elections.

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