Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL presidential candidate, called the Federal Police operation launched on Thursday (10) to investigate suspected misuse of congressional earmarks tied to the film Dark Horse an "attempted coup" and a "sham". The film is a biopic of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. In his weekly YouTube broadcast, the candidate said "there are 24 days left until the election... they need to make something up against me" and announced that his defense will ask the president of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Brazil's top court, Justice Edson Fachin, to formally investigate Justice Flávio Dino over what he calls political scheming, according to news portal G1.
"The name of this operation should have been attempted coup. Here is a tip, Dino: attempted coup is the name of your operation."
What the police are investigating
The Federal Police served 49 search and seizure warrants issued by the STF in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and the Federal District, according to state news agency Agência Brasil. The targets include federal deputy Mário Frias (PL-SP), the film's screenwriter and executive producer, and producer Karina Ferreira da Gama, owner of Go UP Entertainment and of two entities named as recipients of the funds, the Instituto Conhecer Brasil and the Academia Nacional de Cultura. Earmarks are budget funds that lawmakers direct to projects of their choice. Police are investigating suspected criminal organization, embezzlement, money laundering, document fraud and bidding crimes; authorities put the suspected losses at hundreds of millions of reais. Dino authorized the operation and runs the case on the alleged diversion of earmarks. No one has been convicted, and those under investigation deny any wrongdoing.
Frias, whose home was searched, called the operation a "smokescreen" in a video posted on social media. The deputy denied irregularities, said he will cooperate and hand over all requested documents, and said he expects the case to be dismissed, G1 reported. Agência Brasil said it sought comment from Frias and Karina and received no reply.
The candidate's response
In the broadcast, Flávio denied that public money financed the film. "With all calm in the world, once again: there is nothing wrong with Bolsonaro's film. It was all perfectly in order, private investment in a private film," he said, in remarks reported by Folha de S.Paulo. He said Dino and fellow Justice Alexandre de Moraes "tried to interfere in the elections" and claimed the operation was arranged after a meeting between Moraes and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, with whom he said he is disappointed. InfoMoney noted that the candidate accuses Dino of staging a "coup" against President Lula's opponents without presenting evidence.
Flávio also suggested a favor exchange between Dino and Federal Police director-general Andrei Rodrigues. According to Folha, Justice André Mendonça removed Andrei from the post on Tuesday (8) and Dino ordered his reinstatement, a decision the candidate called "a completely illegal stroke of the pen". He also claimed the operation's authorization, signed by Dino on September 3, coincides with a post he made on X about an alleged coup attempt in the elections, cited polls showing him in a statistical tie with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and said, according to InfoMoney, that producer Karina had been threatened to turn against him with testimony.
How the case got here
The case reached the STF in May, when the news site The Intercept published audio of a conversation from November last year in which Flávio asks Banco Master banker Daniel Vorcaro for money to fund the shooting of his father's biopic. The senator denied arranging any improper benefit and said the funds transferred to the film were entirely private. At the court, the matter runs on two parallel tracks: Dino is investigating earmark transfers to entities linked to Karina, and Mendonça is examining a transfer of 61 million reais from Vorcaro to the film, made at Flávio's request, as part of the Banco Master case.
The next announced step is the defense request to Fachin for a formal investigation of Dino; no filing date was given. The inquiries remain open at the STF, and the first round of the presidential election is scheduled for October 4.