In Brazil, a son of Bolsonaro is targeted by investigation over alleged political spying

A police officer with knowledge of the investigation says Brazil’s federal police have carried out a search warrant for Carlos Bolsonaro, a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a Rio de Janeiro city councilman

Brazil Intelligence Probe (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Brazil's federal police on Monday searched the homes and office of Carlos Bolsonaro, a son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a Rio de Janeiro city councilman, an officer with knowledge of the operation told The Associated Press.

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to comment publicly about the case.

Police said in a statement that they conducted nine searches Monday as part of a broader investigation into the nation's intelligence agency and alleged spying on political opponents during Bolsonaro's term, which ended in Dec. 2022.

Carlos Bolsonaro's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP. Bolsonaro has not commented publicly on the search.

Monday's operation comes days after federal police searched the office and home of the former chief of Brazil's intelligence agency under Bolsonaro, Alexandre Ramagem, and a dozen other people.

Police statements and Supreme Court documents show police are investigating an “organized crime” group that operated within the intelligence agency, known by its Portuguese acronym ABIN, during Bolsonaro's term and that allegedly used the agency’s tools and services for political use and personal gain.

The group is also suspected of seeking to interfere with ongoing police investigations, some of which targeted or involved two of Bolsonaro’s sons, Jair Renan and Flávio, a sitting senator.

Police suspect ABIN under Ramagem used a software known as FirstMile, developed by Israeli company Cognyte, “to monitor targets and public authorities ... with the aim of creating false narratives,” according to Supreme Court documents.

Monday's police statement said the latest operation sought to advance the political side of the investigation, to "identify the main recipients and beneficiaries of illegally produced information.”

Sunday night, Jair Bolsonaro conducted a two and a half-hour long live broadcast on social media, along with three of his sons, including Carlos. The live was recorded in a house in the seaside city of Angra dos Reis.

In the video, the Bolsonaros defended Ramagem and criticized the investigation, with the former president calling the idea of a parallel intelligence unit “fantastical.”

Local outlets including O Globo have reported on Ramagem's ties with the Bolsonaro family since the presidential campaign of 2018. Then a federal police officer, Ramagem served as one of Jair Bolsonaro’s security coordinators, O Globo reported.

In one photo widely published in local media, he appears all smiles at a 2018-2019 New Year's Eve party alongside Carlos Bolsonaro and their then partners.

Bolsonaro appointed Ramagem to lead ABIN in May 2019. The right-wing leader had previously appointed him to be federal police chief, but quickly yielded to growing criticism around the nomination due to the fact that Ramagem was widely seen as too close to the president’s family, and that he might give members preferential treatment.

Newspaper O Globo, based in Rio, reported that law enforcement had seized a computer that belonged to ABIN in one of the three addresses covered by the warrants for Carlos Bolsonaro. The agency's press department told The AP in an email it was investigating the claim.