The FBI broadens its investigation into Charlie Kirk’s assassination, New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani scores a major endorsement, and the White House threatens Brazil after its Supreme Court sentences the “Trump of the Tropics.”
It’s Tuesday, September 16, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2 style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;">FBI Probes Larger Plot In Kirk Assassination</h2>
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Topline: As conservatives rally following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the FBI says it’s investigating radical left-wing groups for potential ties to the killer. 
Among those being investigated is the far-left pro-transgender group Armed Queers Salt Lake City. It deleted its Instagram account shortly after the shooting, but a membership form online listed its core principles, which included “the armed and militant protection of queer and trans communities,” “trans liberation,” and an “organized revolutionary movement.”
The Bureau is also investigating a number of social media accounts that seemingly displayed foreknowledge of the assassination. In one instance, a leftist X user wrote a week before Kirk’s killing: “it’d be funny if someone like Charlie Kirk got shot on September 10th.” According to FBI Director Kash Patel, suspected assassin Tyler Robinson told at least one person beforehand what he planned on doing.
What they’re saying: White House Deputy Chief Stephen Miller vowed to channel his “righteous anger” to go after “networks” of leftists in a special edition of The Charlie Kirk Show hosted by Vice President JD Vance on Monday.
“It is a vast domestic terror movement, and with God as my witness, we are going to use every resource we have&#8230; throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle, and destroy these networks&#8230; and we will do it in Charlie’s name,” Miller <a href="https://x.com/avaricum777/status/1967627688711250054">said</a>.
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Establishment Dems Begin To Fall In Line With Mamdani</h2>
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Topline: New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has endorsed far-left NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a sign that the Democratic Party establishment is moving behind the 33-year-old radical.
Hochul notably kept her distance from him during the New York City mayoral primary – Mamdani is an open democratic socialist and has some extremely far-left ideas, including the establishment of <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/us-news/socialist-nyc-mayoral-candidates-city-run-supermarket-plan-under-fire/">government-run grocery stores</a>. But Hochul’s flip could draw other prominent Democratic leaders into Mamdani’s camp.
Hochul said in an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/opinion/hochul-endorsement-mamdani.html">op-ed</a> in The New York Times that she’s backing Mamdani because of his focus on “affordability” and resisting President Donald Trump.
Step back: Mamdani is favored to be New York City’s next mayor, barring some major shakeup – so Hochul will likely have to work with him. She is also running for re-election in 2026, but is so disliked by folks in the NYC suburbs and most of upstate New York that some politicos <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/09/14/us-news/ny-gov-kathy-hochul-expected-to-endorse-zohran-mamdani-this-week-sources/">believe</a> she’s trying to lean harder on the urban vote, where Mamdani has strong support.
Trump weighs in: On the heels of Hochul’s endorsement, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115207991871277413">labeled</a> Mamdani the “‘Liddle’ Communist” and described his frontrunner status as a “rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City.”
<h2 style="text-align: left;">Lengthy Prison Sentence For Jair Bolsonaro Strains U.S.-Brazil Relations</h2>
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Topline: After a two-week public trial, Brazil’s five Supreme Court justices sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison after he was found guilty of an attempted coup. The Trump administration is now threatening severe consequences.
Expert opines: Andres Martinez-Fernandez, senior policy analyst for Latin America at The Heritage Foundation: “This is a case which has a lot of question marks around it, and particularly with this sentencing, which is dramatic, over 25 years, for this person who just a few years ago was occupying the top office in Brazil, is very controversial at the moment. So a lot of Congress in Brazil and others are exploring very actively the need to take action to bypass this sentencing.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in response to the ruling that the United States would “respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”
Martinez-Fernandez: “There&#8217;s a disconnect, I think, that a lot of people see, and this administration certainly sees, between the pursuit of justice and the political priorities that we see the supreme court in Brazil pursuing … and that’s what the administration is really seeking to counter, leveraging the United States&#8217; economic heft and influence in that country. But, it&#8217;s clearly going to be a very significant challenge here.”

Morning Brief: Kirk Probe Expands, Hochul Backs Socialist Mamdani & U.S. Rips Bolsonaro Sentence

Morning Brief: FBI’s Kirk Probe Widens, Hochul Backs Mamdani, U.S. Rips Bolsonaro Prison Sentence

Brazil

Charlie Kirk

Jair Bolsonaro

Kathy Hochul

Marco Rubio

Media

Morning Wire

New York City

Politics

United States

Zohran Mamdani

Among his many promises along the campaign trail, President Trump vowed to take down what he and others have described as the “censorship industrial complex,” a global network of ideologically aligned governmental, nonprofit, media, tech, finance, and academic institutions that are colluding to censor vast swaths of legally protected speech by weaponizing terms like “hate” and “disinformation.”
From early in his presidency, President Trump’s actions have consistently aligned with his campaign promises. From Day One — beginning with executive orders that led to the dismantling of the Global Engagement Center, to Vice President JD Vance’s public condemnation of widespread censorship across the U.K. and Europe — restoring free speech has clearly been a top priority for the administration.
As Trump has landed a massive trade deal with the E.U., he has also taken multiple steps to combat global censorship. That includes zeroing in on the censorship regime in Brazil via a 50% <a href="https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1946349695221043669">tariff</a> and an <a href="https://x.com/secrubio/status/1946349695221043669?s=46">order</a> to revoke visas for Brazilian Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes and other members of the nation’s high court. In 2024, Moraes <a href="https://adfinternational.org/campaign/open-letter-x-brazil">ordered</a> X to block accounts of journalists and political figures under the pretext of “misinformation.” As Trump highlighted in his letter announcing the tariff, X still faces millions of dollars in fines and a permanent ban from the country.
Brazil’s disregard for free speech is paralleled in the E.U. by the “Digital Services Act.” Threatening what it designates as “Very Large Online Platforms” such as X, Meta, Amazon, and Google with crippling fines for noncompliance, the DSA weaponizes vague terms like “hate speech” and “disinformation” to purge the digital landscape of views they deem offensive, inconvenient, or a threat to their power. The DSA also formalizes the kind of public-private collusion exemplified by the censorship industrial complex, empowering private organizations as “trusted flaggers” whose censorship demands platforms are required to prioritize — or face penalties. 
Like Brazil’s Supreme Court, the DSA’s censorship directly impacts American citizens, whose accounts are subject to cancellation right along with our European cousins. We’ve already seen Americans censored under the DSA, as well as under the vague censorship policies that comprise it. These are the same policies at the heart of discriminatory debanking and financial surveillance that have targeted U.S.-based <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/banking/article-12417653/Debanking-row-breaks-Bank-America-shuts-account-ultra-conservative-Christian-charity-serves-impoverished-Ugandans.html">overseas missions</a> and <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/revealed-fed-govt-flagged-adf-domestic-terrorist-threat-target-surveillance-major/">conservative groups</a> like Alliance Defending Freedom, where I work.
They’re also the same policies that ruled the digital public square during Covid, when — often at the behest of the Biden administration and third party “flaggers” — major platforms censored and canceled users over views on public health, lab leak “theories” (since proven true), immigration, the Hunter Biden laptop <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/02/blowing-the-lid-off-the-coverup-of-hunter-bidens-cushy-plea-deal/">story</a>, gender ideology, and more. The DSA simply imposes this censorship regime on a global scale.
To the E.U. commissioners behind the DSA, the more governments work in lockstep to intimidate dissenting citizens into quiet compliance, the better. Just over a year ago, Canadian citizen “Billboard Chris” Elston <a href="https://adfinternational.org/news/free-speech-victory-in-australia-for-billboard-chris-as-x-post-censorship-overturned">posted</a> his objections to a controversial WHO appointee on X, linking to a UK Daily Mail article. The Australian government then demanded that X censor the post under its DSA-style “Online Safety Act,” using the law to classify Elston’s speech as “cyber abuse.”
With ADF International’s help, Billboard Chris took on the Australian government at the nation’s high court and won. But even that victory is unlikely to faze a technocratic cabal so committed to global censorship that it would enlist Australia to censor a Canadian speaking on an American platform and citing a British newspaper article.
Again, this multinational crackdown is a feature — not a bug — to those behind the DSA.
And that’s no surprise when you consider the actions and stated positions of DSA architects like Thierry Breton and Henna Virkkunen. It was Breton who, last summer, famously <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/eus-breton-says-musk-must-comply-with-eu-law-ahead-trump-interview-2024-08-12/">demanded</a> that Elon Musk censor then-candidate Donald J. Trump prior to the duo’s X live interview.
That incident apparently left Breton with enough egg on his face to <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/16/business/eu-official-thierry-breton-who-clashed-with-elon-musk-resigns/">resign</a> from his post as an E.U. Commissioner, but it wasn’t enough to change Virkkunen’s mind. Virkkunen recently <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-tech-tariffs-us-brussels-trade-commissioner-maros-sefovic/">defended</a> the DSA as “based on our European values” — a claim that evidently refers to the Brussels elites rather than the everyday Europeans who face <a href="https://www.deseret.com/u-s-world/2025/04/27/why-has-there-been-a-crack-down-on-free-speech-in-the-uk/">steep fines</a>, years-long <a href="https://adfinternational.org/cases/paivi">court proceedings</a>, and even <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/europe-crackdown-free-speech-26d021b1">jail time</a> for their online speech.
Fittingly enough, Virkkunen made those comments when she was asked if the DSA was on the negotiating table in ongoing trade talks with the U.S. With the DSA off the table, Virkkunen’s comrades in Brussels may have been negotiating with one hand tied behind their backs.
If that’s the case, it was a high price to pay for censoring peaceable citizens across the world, including in the U.S.
* * *
Jeremy Tedesco (@Jeremy_Tedesco) is senior counsel, senior vice president of corporate engagement at <a href="http://www.adflegal.org/?utm_source=wallstreetjournal&amp;utm_medium=oped">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/ADFLegal">@ADFLegal</a>).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Supporters Mobilize Following Bolsonaro Case

How Trump’s Tariffs Can Strike A Major Blow To Global Censorship

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Censorship

European Union

President Trump

Social Media Censorship

Twitter

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil&#8217;s Supreme Court put former President Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest on Monday ahead of his trial for an alleged coup plot, underscoring the court&#8217;s resolve despite escalating tariffs and sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the target of U.S. Treasury sanctions last week, issued the arrest order against Bolsonaro. His decision cited a failure to comply with restraining orders he had imposed on Bolsonaro for allegedly courting Trump&#8217;s interference in the case.
Bolsonaro is on trial before the Supreme Court on charges he conspired with allies to violently overturn his 2022 electoral loss to leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Trump has referred to the case as a &#8220;witch hunt&#8221; and called it grounds for a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods taking effect on Wednesday.
The U.S. State Department condemned the house arrest order, saying Moraes was using Brazilian institutions to silence opposition and threaten democracy, adding the U.S. would &#8220;hold accountable all those aiding and abetting sanctioned conduct.&#8221;
It did not provide details, though Trump has said the U.S. could still impose even higher tariffs on Brazilian imports.
The Monday order from Moraes also banned Bolsonaro from using a cell phone or receiving visits, except for his lawyers and people authorized by the court.
A press representative for Bolsonaro confirmed he was placed under house arrest on Monday evening at his Brasilia residence by police who seized his cell phone.
Bolsonaro&#8217;s lawyers said in a statement they would appeal the decision, arguing the former president had not violated any court order.
In an interview with Reuters last month, Bolsonaro called Moraes a &#8220;dictator&#8221; and said the restraining orders against him were acts of &#8220;cowardice.&#8221;
Some Bolsonaro allies have worried that Trump&#8217;s tactics may be backfiring in Brazil, compounding trouble for Bolsonaro and rallying public support behind Lula&#8217;s leftist government.
However, Sunday demonstrations by Bolsonaro supporters — the largest in months — show that Trump&#8217;s tirades and sanctions against Moraes have also fired up the far-right former army captain&#8217;s political base.
Bolsonaro appeared virtually at a protest in Rio de Janeiro via phone call to his son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, in what some saw as the latest test of his restraining orders.
Moraes said that the former president had repeatedly made attempts to bypass the court&#8217;s orders.
&#8220;Justice is blind, but not foolish,&#8221; the justice wrote in his decision.
On Monday, Senator Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil that Monday&#8217;s order from Moraes was &#8220;a clear display of vengeance&#8221; for the U.S. sanctions against the judge, adding: &#8220;I hope the Supreme Court can put the brakes on this person (Moraes) causing so much upheaval.&#8221;
The judge&#8217;s orders, including the restraining orders under penalty of arrest, have been upheld by the wider court.
Those orders and the larger case before the Supreme Court came after two years of investigations into Bolsonaro&#8217;s role in an election-denying movement that culminated in riots by his supporters that rocked Brasilia in January 2023. That unrest drew comparisons to the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol after Trump&#8217;s 2020 electoral defeat.
In contrast with the tangle of criminal cases which mostly stalled against Trump, Brazilian courts moved swiftly against Bolsonaro, threatening to end his political career and fracture his right-wing movement. An electoral court has already banned Bolsonaro from running for public office until 2030.
Another of Bolsonaro&#8217;s sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman, moved to the U.S. around the same time the former president&#8217;s criminal trial kicked off to drum up support for his father in Washington. The younger Bolsonaro said the move had influenced Trump&#8217;s decision to impose new tariffs on Brazil.
In a statement after the arrest on Monday, Congressman Bolsonaro called Moraes &#8220;an out-of-control psychopath who never hesitates to double down.&#8221;
Trump last month shared a letter he had sent to Bolsonaro. &#8220;I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;This trial should end immediately!&#8221;
Washington based its sanctions against Moraes last week on accusations that the judge had authorized arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppressed freedom of expression.
The arrest could give Trump a pretext to pile on additional measures against Brazil, said Graziella Testa, a political science professor at the Federal University of Parana, adding that Bolsonaro seemed to be consciously provoking escalation.
&#8220;I think things could escalate because this will be seen as a reaction to the Magnitsky sanction&#8221; against Moraes, said Leonardo Barreto, a partner at the Think Policy political risk consultancy in Brasilia, referring to the asset freeze imposed on Moraes last week.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Additional reporting by Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Writing by Andre Romani and Brad Haynes; Editing by Kylie Madry, Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast)
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Former Brazil’s President Bolsonaro visits the Capital Moto Week in Brasilia

Brazil’s Bolsonaro Arrested, Adding To Tensions With Trump

Global Politics

World

WASHINGTON — As the United States Treasury Department sanctioned Brazil&#8217;s infamous Supreme Court justice, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday slapping an additional 40% tariff on the country in response to the &#8220;unusual and extraordinary threat&#8221; that Brazil poses to U.S. national security.
The president&#8217;s order uses the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to declare a new national emergency, saying that Brazil has engaged in practices and policies harming United States companies, United States foreign policy and economy, and the free speech rights of American citizens. The new 40% tariff is on top of the baseline 10% tariff already in place on Brazil, meaning that there is now a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports to the U.S.
&#8220;I find that the unprecedented actions taken by the Government of Brazil have violated the free expression rights of United States persons, interfered with the economy of the United States&#8230;.subverted the interest of the United States in protecting its citizens and companies, undermined the rule of law in Brazil, and jeopardized the orderly development of Brazil&#8216;s political, administrative, and economic institutions,&#8221; <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/addressing-threats-to-the-us/">the order states</a>.
A White House fact sheet shared with The Daily Wire specifically points to the prosecution of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters, denouncing the persecution, intimidation, harassment, censorship, and prosecution of these people, and calling the treatment &#8220;serious human rights abuses&#8221; that have &#8220;undermined the rule of law in Brazil.&#8221;
The move is another example of the president leveraging tariffs to protect American interests both at home and abroad, particularly when it comes to freedom of speech. The United States has serious concerns about the government of Brazil forcing U.S. companies to censor political speech, de-platforming users, demanding sensitive U.S. user data, or punishing U.S. companies for failure to change content moderation policies.
<div id="attachment_954707" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extraordinary-threat-trump-unleashes-on-brazil-with-massive-tariff-sanctions-on-extremist-judge/topshot-brazil-politics-justice-trial-coup-bolsonaro" rel="attachment wp-att-954707"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-954707" class="wp-image-954707 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2218944579-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2218944579-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2218944579-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2218944579-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2218944579.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>EVARISTO SA/AFP via Getty Images</div>
And it comes the same day that the U.S. sanctioned Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of serious human rights abuses, including &#8220;arbitrary detention involving flagrant denials of fair trial guarantees and violations of the freedom of expression.&#8221;
&#8220;Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has abused his judicial authority to target political opponents, shield corrupt allies, and suppress dissent, often in coordination with other Brazilian officials,&#8221; the order states. &#8220;Justice de Moraes has authorized politically motivated police raids, arrests, and bank account freezes.&#8221;
It continues: &#8220;He has also authorized the confiscation of passports, jailed individuals without trial for social media posts, opened unprecedented criminal investigations, including into United States citizens for their constitutionally protected speech in the United States, and issued secret orders to United States social media companies to censor thousands of posts and de-platform dozens of political critics, including United States persons, for lawful speech on United States soil.&#8221;
The State Department said Wednesday that de Moraes abused his authority when he engaged in &#8220;a targeted and politically motivated effort designed to silence political critics through the issuance of secret orders compelling online platforms, including U.S. social media companies, to ban the accounts of individuals for posting protected speech.&#8221;
In particular, de Moraes has headed the prosecution of Paulo Figueiredo, a Brazilian journalist and economist based in the United States, for speech that Figueiredo made in the United States. The White House accuses de Moraes of issuing hundreds of orders to secretly censor his political critics, and when U.S. companies refuse to comply with his orders, he imposes substantial fines upon them, threatens executives with criminal prosecution, and orders their exclusion from Brazil&#8217;s social media market.
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<div>The Treasury Department&#8217;s sanctions on de Moraes freeze any assets he might have in the United States and bars anyone in the United States from engaging in transactions with him.</div>
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“De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions — including against former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement. “Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens.”
The Trump administration says that by imposing tariffs on Brazil for its &#8220;reckless actions,&#8221; Trump is protecting not only the national security of the United States from a foreign threat, but also the foreign policy and the economy of the U.S.
&#8220;The policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Brazil,&#8221; the order states, &#8220;are repugnant to the moral and political values of democratic and free societies and conflict with the policy of the United States to promote democratic governments throughout the world, the principle of free expression and free and fair elections, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.&#8221;
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President Trump Holds Joint Press Conference With Brazilian President Bolsonaro

‘Extraordinary Threat’: Trump Unleashes On Brazil With Massive Tariff, Sanctions On Extremist Judge

Donald Trump

The Brazilian Supreme Court ordered that police raid former President Jair Bolsonaro&#8217;s home and place an ankle monitor on him on Friday, escalating its targeting of the conservative leader as President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rips-brazil-over-censorship-bolsonaro-witch-hunt-then-says-country-will-face-50-tariff?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Rips+Brazil+Over+Censorship%2C+Bolsonaro+%E2%80%98Witch+Hunt%E2%80%99+%E2%80%94+Then+Says+Country+Will+Face+50%25+Tariff">defends</a> him.
After the Brazilian Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders on Bolsonaro, federal police raided his home, and the former president was banned from contacting foreign officials, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-court-orders-raids-restraints-bolsonaro-trump-collusion-2025-07-18/">reported</a>. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes cited a &#8220;concrete possibility&#8221; of Bolsonaro fleeing the country when he issued the order.
Brazil&#8217;s increased pressure on Bolsonaro comes shortly after President Trump defended his political ally and blasted the Brazilian Supreme Court for its &#8220;witch hunt&#8221; targeting Bolsonaro. Trump also imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil last week, citing the country&#8217;s &#8220;insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.&#8221;
&#8220;The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,&#8221; Trump said in a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. &#8220;This trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”
Moraes specifically called out Trump&#8217;s tariff on Brazil in his Friday order, arguing that it is intended to create an economic crisis in Brazil and interfere with the country&#8217;s judicial system.
On Thursday, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114870788445875372">posted</a> a letter on Truth Social that he sent to Bolsonaro, which read in part, &#8220;I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you. This trial should end immediately! I am not surprised to see you leading in the polls; you were a highly respected and strong leader who served your country well.&#8221;
Bolsonaro told Reuters that he believes the Supreme Court&#8217;s move on Friday is in response to Trump&#8217;s recent comments. The former Brazilian president called Moraes a &#8220;dictator&#8221; and denied that he had any plans to flee the country.
&#8220;I feel supreme humiliation,&#8221; he added when asked about the ankle monitor. &#8220;I am 70 years old, I was president of the republic for four years.&#8221;
Bolsonaro is being tried over charges that he took part in an alleged coup against President Lula after his 2022 election loss. He has denied the allegations and argued that the charges against him are politically motivated. He has also maintained the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/09/23/brazilians-views-of-lula-and-bolsonaro/">support</a> of millions of Brazilians as he faces the indictment brought against him by Lula’s leftist government.

Brazil Raids Bolsonaro’s Home, Orders Him To Wear Ankle Monitor After Trump Blasts Leftist Country

President Donald Trump took a sledgehammer to Brazil on Wednesday, calling out the leftist government for its censorship of U.S. social media and its &#8220;witch hunt&#8221; targeting former conservative president Jair Bolsonaro.
In a <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1943043154946457812">letter</a> to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — one of the many letters Trump has sent to countries around the world this week — the U.S. president deviated from his typical message announcing tariff rates to blast &#8220;Brazil&#8217;s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.&#8221;
&#8220;Dear Mr. President,&#8221; Trump began the letter. &#8220;I knew and dealt with former President Jair Bolsonaro, and respected him greatly, as did most other Leaders of Countries. The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!&#8221;
Last year, Bolsonaro was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/21/americas/brazilian-ex-president-jair-bolsonaro-indicted-over-attempted-coup-plot/index.html">charged</a> alongside 36 other people for taking part in an alleged coup to overthrow the government after he lost the 2022 election to Lula. Brazilian prosecutors claim the plot included plans to commit political assassinations, but Bolsonaro has denied the allegations and argued that the charges against him are politically motivated. Bolsonaro has maintained the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/09/23/brazilians-views-of-lula-and-bolsonaro/">support</a> of millions of Brazilians as he faces the indictment brought against him by Lula&#8217;s leftist government.
Trump has also defended Bolsonaro on numerous occasions, saying earlier this week that he will &#8220;be watching the WITCH HUNT of Jair Bolsonaro, his family, and thousands of his supporters, very closely.&#8221;
&#8220;The only Trial that should be happening is a Trial by the Voters of Brazil — It’s called an Election. LEAVE BOLSONARO ALONE!” he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114812490799920916">added</a>.
In his letter to Lula on Wednesday, Trump also slammed the government for going after American social media companies. Last year, the Brazilian Supreme Court upheld a nationwide <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazilian-judge-orders-suspension-of-x-social-media-platform-responds">ban</a> on Elon Musk&#8217;s social media platform, X. The country&#8217;s Supreme Court took further action on the issue last month, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4a5235c5-acd0-4e81-9d44-2362a25c8eb3">ruling</a> that social media platforms can be held liable for their users&#8217; posts.
Trump wrote in the letter, &#8220;Due in part to Brazil&#8217;s insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET AND UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to U.S. Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market), starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Brazil a Tariff of 50% on any and all Brazilian products sent into the United States, seperate from all Sectoral Tariffs.&#8221;
Trump has sent numerous letters to countries around the world this week, informing them of the tariffs they will pay come August 1. The 50% tariff rate on Brazil is the highest one that Trump has unveiled this week, a rate that Trump said &#8220;is necessary &#8230; to rectify the grave injustices of the current regime.&#8221;

Donald Trump/Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

Trump Rips Brazil Over Censorship, Bolsonaro ‘Witch Hunt’ — Then Says Country Will Face 50% Tariff

Free Speech

Social Media

Tariffs

U.S.

Brazil’s former president, conservative Jair Bolsonaro, a target of the new leftist administration, has <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/brazil-police-indict-ex-president-212117509.html">reportedly</a> been indicted on Thursday by the Federal Police over last year&#8217;s accusations that he imported jewelry worth $3 million and sold two luxury watches without paying taxes.
The police report is expected to be transmitted to the country’s Supreme Court, which would prompt Brazil’s prosecutor-general, Paulo Gonet, to decide whether to put Bolsonaro on trial.
“The persecution of Bolsonaro is declared and shameless!” said Flávio Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro’s son and a sitting senator, on social media. “Someone receives a gift, a committee of public servants decides that it is yours. The TCU questions and the gift is returned to the Union. There is no damage to the treasury! Then the group of PFs, handpicked for the mission, indicts the person.”
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A perseguição a Bolsonaro é declarada e descarada! Alguém ganha um presente, uma comissão de servidores públicos decide que ele é seu. O TCU questiona e o presente é devolvido à União. Não há dano ao erário! Aí o grupo de PFs, escalados a dedo pra missão, indicia a pessoa.
&mdash; Flavio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/FlavioBolsonaro/status/1808967930509496567?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;
“Police said in August that Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia,” the Associated Press reported. “Brazil requires its citizens arriving by plane from abroad to declare goods worth more than $1,000 and, for any amount above that exemption, pay a tax equal to 50% of their value.”
Police also reportedly indicted Bolsonaro’s former aide, Mauro Cid, and two of his lawyers, Frederick Wassef and Fábio Wajngarten.  Wassef blasted that the indictment had been made public, contending that the investigation was supposed to proceed under seal. “I am going through all of this solely for practicing law in defense of Jair Bolsonaro,” he asserted.
Wajngarten issued a lengthy statement on X, writing in part:
<blockquote>
In the entire investigation there is no evidence against me. To be specific: I was indicted for the bizarre reason that I had complied with the Law! &#8230; My legal advice was that the gifts received by the former President of the Republic should be immediately returned to the Court of Auditors of the Union, in defense of any doubts regarding questions regarding the public interest. And legal advice is not a crime. &#8230; Trying to incriminate me is absurd and reveals the fragility of the accusations systematically made by the Federal Police over the last 18 months. The PF knows that I did nothing about what it found, but it still wants to punish me because I am a permanent and uncompromising defense of former president Bolsonaro. If the intention is to intimidate me, they won&#8217;t succeed. Seeing the triumph of the Police State by those who said they were victims of it, used against political opponents, is certainly a dark chapter in our Democracy and will be duly corrected, in due time, by our institutions.
</blockquote>
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O meu indiciamento pela Polícia Federal se baseia na seguinte afronta legal: advogado, fui indiciado porque no exercício de minhas prerrogativas, defendi um cliente, sendo que em toda a investigação não há qualquer prova contra mim. Sendo específico: fui indiciado pela razão…
&mdash; Fabio Wajngarten (@fabiowoficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/fabiowoficial/status/1808975213004272075?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
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In February, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians rallied to support Bolsonaro, who flew an Israeli flag in defiance of anti-Semitic remarks made by Brazil’s president, socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had said, “What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide. It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children. What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Da Silva was <a href="//645B7F52-BE63-4299-B35C-54264D22B33D/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to 12 years in jail for corruption in 2017. In 2019, Brazil’s Supreme Court annulled Da Silva’s conviction, ruling that the judge who issued it had no jurisdiction over the former president’s case because he was located in a different state from where Da Silva lived.
Bolsonaro and Argentinian President Javier Milei, who also is a staunch supporter of Israel, are due to meet this weekend in Brazil.
Ryan Saavedra contributed to this article.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-thousands-of-brazilians-flood-sao-paulo-to-support-bolsonaro">Hundreds Of Thousands Of Brazilians Flood Sao Paulo To Support Bolsonaro</a>

BRAZIL-POLITICS-BOLSONARO

Brazil’s Conservative Bolsonaro Reportedly Targeted With Indictment

Courts

Indictment

A prominent Brazilian conservative who was a senior aide to former president Jair Bolsonaro has been imprisoned without trial in the South American country for four months, justified by what appears to have been an error on a U.S. government website.
Lawyers for Filipe Martins, who considers himself a political prisoner of the left-wing Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), say the court is using the error on the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) website as proof to imprison him. Martins was arrested on February 8 at the order of STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who is using records showing travel to the United States — and the lack of corresponding Brazilian immigration records — as evidence that Martins defrauded the immigration system by leaving the country undetected.
According to the incorrect CBP travel history records used to keep Martins imprisoned obtained by The Daily Wire, there was a log of Filipe entering the United States with inconsistencies. But representatives of Martins, who served as the special adviser for international affairs to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/7-things-you-need-know-about-trump-brazil-who-kassy-dillon">Bolsonaro</a>, say he never left his country on the day being alleged. There is evidence showing he made Uber and food purchases in Brazil, and also that he took a domestic flight. 
The prolonged imprisonment comes as the STF faces widespread criticism for overstepping its authority to punish opponents. He has not yet been given a trial and remains imprisoned on the grounds that there is a risk he would flee the country, despite the correction. His lawyers say the government is holding him for political reasons.
“It has been widely known that de Moraes has been fearing the growth of conservatives,”  Martins’ attorney, Ana Barbara Schaffert, told The Daily Wire. “This extended, unfounded imprisonment indicates that they are trying to torture him into confessing to anything that fits their narrative, because there is nothing legally that can detain him in jail.”
A correction was made to the CBP I-94 website last week after Martins&#8217; defense team submitted additional documentation to officials to prove Martins did not travel to the United States on December 30, 2022, on a presidential flight with Bolsonaro before the inauguration of the next president, as is alleged. New I-94 records show that Martins&#8217; last entry to the U.S. was in September 2022, when he accompanied Bolsonaro to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
<div id="attachment_751681" style="width: 690px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-751681" class="size-full wp-image-751681" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.15%E2%80%AFAM.png" alt="" width="680" height="450" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.15%E2%80%AFAM.png 680w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.15%E2%80%AFAM-300x199.png 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px" />An incorrect travel history was used by the Brazilian Supreme Court to show that Filipe Martins traveled to the U.S. on December 30, 2022. Martins&#8217; lawyers and an updated document from CBP dispute he ever left the country on that date.</div>
In a determination letter to Martins&#8217; lawyers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated it conducted a review of the situation and “made any corrections to records that our inquiries determined were necessary.”
The lawyers say the update should lead to Filipe&#8217;s release.
“We finally have an official document that can be used as a legal basis that Martins never entered the United States on December 30, 2022,” Schaffert said. “We hope de Moraes takes this into account and releases Filipe immediately.”
<div id="attachment_751679" style="width: 894px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-751679" class="size-large wp-image-751679" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-884x576.png" alt="" width="884" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-884x576.png 884w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-300x196.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM-768x501.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-17-at-9.34.55%E2%80%AFAM.png 1221w" sizes=" (max-width: 884px) 100vw, 884px" />An updated document from the CBP shows Filipe Martins&#8217; last entry to the U.S. was in September 2022, despite accusations from the STF.</div>
Martins’ legal defense filed a petition for his release and is awaiting an official response.
De Moraes also used as evidence an outdated Microsoft Word file with a list of passengers for the December 30 presidential flight that had been updated numerous times, as well as a blog post speculating he “evaporated” from Brazil, according to Schaffert. 
“It was merely a draft of a supposed list, which would never be used as evidence for an arrest in any normal process,” Schaffert said.
Martins was a popular powerhouse in the Bolsonaro administration due to his youth, large social media following, and conservative and pro-American ideology. He was nicknamed the “Jared Kushner” of the Bolsonaro administration while in his previous diplomatic position, which led to a <a href="https://x.com/filgmartin/status/1167851207563628545">meeting wit</a><a href="https://x.com/filgmartin/status/1167851207563628545">h</a> former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Martins is also being investigated by the STF for allegedly contributing to a document questioning the 2022 Brazilian presidential election that led to the return of socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power after serving a jail term for corruption.
This investigation was not cited as the official reason for Martins’ jailing, according to his lawyers.
Bolsonaro, who was president from January 2019 to December 2022, has been under investigation by the STF for making accusations of voting fraud, and his involvement in orchestrating riots on government buildings in January 2022. He is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brazil-bans-bolsonaro-from-holding-office-over-election-claims-energizing-his-base">currently barred</a> from holding or running for office in Brazil until 2030 for casting doubt on its electronic voting system in a meeting with diplomats at the presidential palace, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/world/americas/bolsonaro-brazil-banned-office.html">reported</a>. 
By using the power of his position, de Moraes has been on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-vows-to-expose-corruption-from-brazils-dictator-who-launched-probes-for-not-restricting-free-speech">a mission</a> to crack down on conservatives and free speech in the country. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/22/world/americas/brazil-alexandre-de-moraes.html">The New York Times accused</a> de Moraes of using “a broad interpretation of the court’s powers” to “investigate and prosecute, as well as to silence on social media, anyone he deems a menace to Brazil’s institutions.” De Moraes also signaled to deputies that he fears conservatives will make gains in the Brazilian Congress in 2026, <a href="https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/politica/moraes-sinaliza-preocupacao-com-bancada-conservadora-em-2026/">reported CNN Brazil.</a>
<div id="attachment_751053" style="width: 889px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-751053" class="size-large wp-image-751053" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-879x576.jpg" alt="" width="879" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-879x576.jpg 879w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-300x197.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07-768x503.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/06/PHOTO-2024-06-14-15-48-07.jpg 1290w" sizes=" (max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px" />Filipe Martins and his wife Anelise Hauagge. (Photo: Instagram)</div>
De Moraes’ crusade led to a feud with billionaire Elon Musk after demanding the censorship and suspension of users on X accused of “fake news.”
“He demanded that X suspend accounts of people who raised corruption concerns while insisting that X pretend the suspension was for violating our terms of service!” <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1777517291736813695">Musk tweeted</a> in April. “We obey the laws of countries even if we disagree with them, but this required violating the laws of Brazil.”
De Moraes opened a probe into Musk for “disobedience” and waging a “disinformation campaign” against the court.
“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes <a href="https://apnews.com/article/brazil-musk-x-supreme-court-investigation-a645757b95a66ee658832802908466ab">said</a>.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-probes-fbis-reported-role-in-brazils-crackdown-on-critics">demanded answers</a> last month after reports emerged suggesting the FBI assisted in cracking down on critics and journalists.
“In Brazil, news outlets have recently reported that the FBI, on behalf of the Brazilian government, reached out to two U.S. residents, including a journalist targeted in some of the censorship orders by Brazilian courts,” said Jordan’s letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The STF did not respond to a request for comment.

Brazil’s Left-Wing Supreme Court Imprisons Prominent Conservative Based On U.S. Border Patrol Error

U.S. Border Patrol Error Leaves Former Bolsonaro’s = Adviser Imprisoned Without Trial By Left-Wing Brazil Court

Border Patrol

Elon Musk

Immigration

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians rallied on Sunday in the country&#8217;s biggest city to show support for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who flew an Israeli flag in a rebuttal of anti-Semitic remarks made by the country&#8217;s current president, <a href="https://www.cato.org/blog/why-did-global-media-give-brazils-lula-free-pass-corruption">corrupt</a> socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The rally comes as Brazil&#8217;s federal government investigates Bolsonaro over whether he was involved in orchestrating riots on government buildings last January, the Associated Press reported, adding that he&#8217;s also under investigation for allegedly receiving illegal gifts from Saudi Arabia during his presidency.
Bolsonaro, who is barred from running for office until 2030, wants those who have been locked up from the riot to be pardoned and released from jail.
“What I seek is pacification, it is erasing the past,” he said. “It is to seek a way for us to live in peace and stop being so jumpy. Amnesty for those poor people who are jailed in Brasilia. We ask all 513 congressmen, 81 senators for a bill of amnesty so justice can be made in Brazil.”
He also shot down allegations that there was ever a coup attempted in the country: “What is a coup? It is tanks on the streets, weapons, conspiracy. None of that happened in Brazil.”
Roughly 750,000 people attended the rally, according to estimates from the Public Security Secretariat.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
➡ Ato bolsonarista reuniu 750 mil na Avenida Paulista, diz SSP
Estimativa da Secretaria da Segurança Pública contabiliza ruas adjacentes; reportagem observou 10 quarteirões com público na Paulista
Leia: <a href="https://t.co/pzkWKnRNrD">https://t.co/pzkWKnRNrD</a> <a href="https://t.co/XOt4Uzfse5">pic.twitter.com/XOt4Uzfse5</a>
&mdash; Metrópoles (@Metropoles) <a href="https://twitter.com/Metropoles/status/1761892023940895072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bolsonaro also waved an Israeli flag at the rally in a clear rebuttal of Lula, who was condemned last week for engaging in anti-Semitic Holocaust denial.
Lula’s remarks come as Israel continues to conduct military operations inside Gaza to recover hostages who were kidnapped during the unprecedented October 7 terrorist attack and to eliminate Hamas terrorists and infrastructure. During the early morning surprise attack, Hamas murdered 1,200 people in Israel, injured 5,300+, and kidnapped hundreds.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨A DEMOCRACIA TEM LADO: Ex-presidente Bolsonaro exibe bandeira de Israel em gesto de solidariedade na Av. Paulista
Solidariedade à nação israelense. <a href="https://t.co/JbrWppAntQ">pic.twitter.com/JbrWppAntQ</a>
&mdash; Meio Independente (@meioindep) <a href="https://twitter.com/meioindep/status/1761814798235308291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” Lula told reporters at an African Union summit in Ethiopia. “It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history,” he said. “Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Israel has taken unprecedented measures to minimize the loss of civilian life during the war, including dropping hundreds of thousands of leaflets urging Gazans to leave specific areas, calling Gazans and urging them to evacuate, opening up safe corridors so they can travel without being fired upon by Hamas, and calling off airstrikes after civilians were located near a designated target.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Lula’s remarks with a statement posted to social media, saying that Israel would take diplomatic action over the incident.
“The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and serious. This is about trivializing the Holocaust and trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself,” Netanyahu said. “Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line. Israel fights for its defense and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law.”
“I decided with Foreign Minister Israel Katz to summon the Brazilian ambassador to Israel for a stern reprimand conversation immediately,” he added.

BRAZIL-POLITICS-BOLSONARO-SUPPORTERS-DEMONSTRATION

Hundreds Of Thousands Of Brazilians Flood Sao Paulo To Support Bolsonaro

Socialists

Former <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/brazil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brazilian</a> President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-fired-most-of-twitter-brazil-sparking-claims-he-did-because-platform-undermined-bolsonaro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jair Bolsonaro</a> has been banned from holding or even running for office in Brazil until 2030, a panel of judges ruled in a 5-2 decision on Friday. The judges on the electoral court said the populist used government communication channels to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/election-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cast doubt</a> on Brazil&#8217;s electronic voting system.
Bolsonaro, 68, was president of Brazil from January 2019 to December 2022. He lost an election runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October, 2022, and he subsequently questioned the fairness of the election.
The former president posted on Friday a video of himself and his supporters to Twitter, with the caption, &#8220;Brazil above all! God above all!&#8221;
Bolsonaro&#8217;s base has reportedly been reenergized by the judges&#8217; decision, which supporters say is unfair, and have compared the politician to former President Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-barred-running-office-electronic-voting-court-rcna92160" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-barred-running-office-electronic-voting-court-rcna92160&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1688313146686000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2Is6qz-5FD_-ji-G30jhwP">according</a> to NBC News. Supporters this past week have rallied to pay off some $230,000 in COVID-related fines for Bolsonaro.
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-Brasil Acima de Tudo! &#8211; Deus Acima de Todos! <a href="https://t.co/yh6wWAVsbS">pic.twitter.com/yh6wWAVsbS</a>
&mdash; Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/jairbolsonaro/status/1674874564197732353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The judges&#8217; decision takes Bolsonaro out of the 2024 and 2028 municipal elections and the 2026 general elections; he will be 75 years old when he is again allowed to run for office.
“This response will confirm our faith in the democracy,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/world/americas/bolsonaro-brazil-banned-office.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the Supreme Court justice who leads the electoral court in Brazil, Alexandre de Moraes.
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Bolsonaro&#8217;s coalition said an audit of the October 2022 runoff found &#8220;signs of irreparable &#8230; malfunction&#8221; in some of the electronic voting machines, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-bolsonaro-files-complaint-challenge-election-results-2022-11-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-bolsonaro-files-complaint-challenge-election-results-2022-11-22/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1688313222165000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0QmLfDz-Gh0F0YSviXWYxB">according</a> to Reuters. A complaint said there were signs of &#8220;serious failures that generate uncertainties&#8221; in the older electronic voting machines, making it &#8220;impossible to validate the results generated,&#8221; and therefore should be &#8220;invalidated.&#8221;
The electoral court found that Bolsonaro had violated election laws when he called diplomats to the presidential palace and claimed the voting systems were rigged in Brazil, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/world/americas/bolsonaro-brazil-banned-office.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Bolsonaro is expected to appeal the ruling to Brazil’s Supreme Court — a court the former president has criticized for years, including calling some justices “terrorists.&#8221;
The populist is facing criminal threats and could potentially face time behind bars. Brazil’s Federal Police recently <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/brazilian-police-search-home-of-ex-president-bolsonaro-in-vaccine-probe-42bc4e1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">searched</a> Bolsonaro&#8217;s home and seized his phone as part of an investigation into alleged counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine cards. According to a police statement, the investigation focused on whether cards held by Bolsonaro and his family members were altered in order to comply with U.S. vaccine mandates for travelers coming from outside the country.
Tim Meads contributed to this report 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-fired-most-of-twitter-brazil-sparking-claims-he-did-because-platform-undermined-bolsonaro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Musk Fired Most Of Twitter Brazil, Sparking Claims He Did Because Platform Undermined Bolsonaro</a>

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Brazil Bans Bolsonaro From Holding Office Over Election Claims, Energizing His Base

Brazil Bans Jair Bolsonaro From Holding Office Over Election Claims, Energizing His Base 

Elections

This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Atlanta Shooting:
One person is dead and four are injured after a shooter opened fire in an Atlanta medical facility shortly after noon today. According to police, the shooter entered Northside Hospital Medical Midtown wearing a gray hoodie and gloves and carrying a bag. It is believed that the suspect is a male and used a handgun. Police are conducting a manhunt for the suspect who is still at large. No motives have been suggested thus far. 
Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Assassination Attempt:
Russia <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russia-accuses-ukraine-of-sending-drones-to-assassinate-putin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin. Video on social media appears to show a drone exploding above the Kremlin on Wednesday. 
The Kremlin said in a statement that two drones were intercepted and shot down by Russian security forces and that the impacts didn’t hurt any people or property. Putin was apparently away from the Kremlin at the time. A spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Russia’s allegations.
 However, right after news of the drone attack broke, Zelensky’s chief of staff posted a string of fire emojis to his Telegram channel. He deleted the post shortly after. The attack, if it was Ukraine, would be a significant escalation in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian territory. The drone strike follows a string of attacks on Russian freight lines, military depots, and other targets, most of which have gone unaddressed by Ukraine’s government.
New York Bans Gas Stoves In Most New Buildings
New York has <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2023/05/03/ny-first-state-to-pass-gas-ban/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially become the first state</a> in the nation to ban natural gas and other fossil fuel hookups in most new buildings. 
On Tuesday evening, the New York Senate and Assembly voted to approve the $229 billion dollar state budget which contained the provision. There are exceptions, such as some commercial and industrial buildings including hospitals, laundromats, restaurants, and more. Governor Hochul called the move necessary, comparing the transition to the move away from coal as a primary energy source. Meanwhile, Republican State Senator Thomas O&#8217;Mara criticized the move, saying the electrical grid isn’t equipped for the transition.
Olympian Dead:
American <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-olympic-champion-sprinter-tori-bowie-dies-at-32" target="_blank" rel="noopener">track and field star Tori Bowie</a>, a three-time Olympic medalist and a two-time world champion in track and field, has died. She was 32 years old.  No cause of death has been given.
Texas Authorities Arrested Accused Illegal Alien Killer&#8217;s Wife:
Authorities have now arrested the wife of the illegal immigrant accused of killing five people, including a 9-year-old, last week in Cleveland, Texas. Police say the shooting suspect is a Mexican national illegally in the country after having been deported several times. Tim Kean, chief deputy with the San Jacinto County Sheriff&#8217;s Office <a href="https://abc7ny.com/francisco-oropesa-arrested-cleveland-texas-mass-shooting-divimara-lamar-nava-shooter/13207789/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> reporters, &#8220;Anybody that helped this maniac definitely has some kind of issues as far as I&#8217;m concerned.&#8221;
Brazilian Police Seach Home Of Former President:
Brazil’s Federal Police <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/brazilian-police-search-home-of-ex-president-bolsonaro-in-vaccine-probe-42bc4e1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">searched</a> the home of former President Jair Bolsonaro and seized his phone as part of an investigation into alleged counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine cards. According to a police statement, the investigation focused on whether cards held by Bolsonaro and his family members were altered in order to comply with U.S. vaccine mandates for travelers coming from outside the country. 
Fed Hikes Rates:
The federal reserve <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-unveils-quarter-point-target-interest-rate-hike-as-banking-system-reels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Wednesday that it raised interest rates for the 10th time in a little more than 12 months. The quarter-point hike brings the Fed’s interest rate to between 5 and 5.25 percent. 
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

Wednesday

Wednesday Afternoon Update: Atlanta Shooting, Russia Accuses Ukraine Of Assassination Attempt, Olympian Dead At 32

Atlanta

Federal Reserve

Gas stoves

Illegal Immigration

New York

Olympics

Russia

Texas

After Twitter CEO Elon Musk gutted much of Twitter&#8217;s staff in Brazil following the October elections, including all employees charged with moderating content for incitement of violence and misinformation, critics are <a href="https://twitter.com/ben_kew/status/1612760166658707459" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claiming</a> the bloodbath was over Twitter&#8217;s alleged role in undermining the conservative presidency of Jair Bolsonaro.
Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter on October 27; the run-off election for Brazil was held on October 30. In the initial election on October 2, neither Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro nor leftist Luiz Inacio da Silva, who served as president of Brazil from 2003-2010, could gain more than half of the valid votes, precipitating a run-off election, which ended with Lula receiving 50.90% of the votes to Bolsonaro&#8217;s 49.10%, the closest presidential election in Brazil’s history.
In early November, Twitter Brazil <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/07/twitter-brazil-elon-musk-far-right-suspended-accounts-edited-">suspended the profiles</a> of three right-wing politicians, prompting one Twitter user to ask Musk, “Hey @elonmusk, your company has been imposing a draconian ideological censorship of the Brazilian people’s right to free speech. We are at a critical moment in our history! Wtf is going on?? We thought you bought Twitter exactly for this reason! Rise and lift the censorship NOW!”
When Musk responded, “What censorship are you referring to?” Paulo Figueiredo Filho, the grandson of João Figueiredo, Brazil’s military president between 1979 and 1985, chimed in, “Of course, Twitter needs to obey Brazilian ‘court’ decisions. But the company has gone above and beyond, spontaneously imposing its own censorship, even stricter than that of our flawed courts. Your moderators are currently being more dictatorial than our own courts!&#8221;
“I will look into this,” Musk responded.
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I will look into this
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589419469020942336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In early December, Avi Yemini of Rebel News tweeted at Musk, “Hey @elonmusk, can you find out what other elections were ‘handled’ by the former Twitter regime?  Thank you, The rest of the world.”
Musk replied, “I’ve seen a lot of concerning tweets about the recent Brazil election. If those tweets are accurate, it’s possible that Twitter personnel gave preference to left wing candidates.”
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I’ve seen a lot of concerning tweets about the recent Brazil election. If those tweets are accurate, it’s possible that Twitter personnel gave preference to left wing candidates.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598990820665065472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Musk followed with a mid-December tweet in which he stated, “Twitter may have people on the Brazil team that are strongly politically biased.” In May 2022, Musk visited Bolsonaro in Brazil, where they discussed projects that could protect the Amazon rainforest. At roughly the same time, Bolosonaro <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/elon-musk-visit-brazil-talks-with-bolsonaro-government-official-says-2022-05-20/">called</a> the possible acquisition of Twitter by Musk “a breath of hope,” adding that he hoped Musk would show the rest of the world how Brazil protected the rainforest.

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Musk Fired Most Of Twitter Brazil, Sparking Claims He Did Because Platform Undermined Bolsonaro

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