During and after the 2022 Brazilian general election, a network of members of former president Jair Bolsonaro's government and of the Brazilian Armed Forces allegedly planned to subvert the transition of power to newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrest Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes and Federal Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco, and shut down several government institutions, such as the National Congress, the Superior Electoral Court and the STF, in an attempt to keep Bolsonaro in power and consolidate his control over the federal government. The plans, evidence, and individuals involved in planning a coup d'état were gradually revealed in investigations conducted by public agencies and the press in 2023 and 2024.
After the 8 January Brasília attacks, more than 1,400 people were charged for their alleged role in the riots. Valdemar Costa Neto, head of the Liberal Party, and three aides to Bolsonaro were arrested on 8 February 2024. On 21 November 2024, the Federal Police formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 people of an attempt to overthrow Brazil's democratic institutions, including a plot to assassinate Lula, Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Moraes. On 14 December 2024, Bolsonaro's 2022 running mate and former Chief of Staff, General Walter Braga Netto, was arrested. On 18 February 2025, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet formally indicted Bolsonaro and 34 others for an attempted coup d'état. On 26 March, the Supreme Court accepted the Prosecutor General's complaint and considered Bolsonaro and seven other allies as defendants in the case.
The trial of the leadership group took place between 2 and 11 September 2025 before the First Panel of the Supreme Federal Court and resulted in the conviction of all the defendants, with Jair Bolsonaro being sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison. Overall, 31 of the 34 individuals indicted by the Prosecutor General became defendants and stood trial. Of these, 29 individuals were convicted.
Beginning in July 2025, the Trump administration in the United States began openly clashing with Brazilian authorities, claiming Bolsonaro was the victim of a witch hunt without presenting solid grounds. As a result, the US imposed a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports, revoked the visas of eight Brazilian Supreme Court justices, and applied the Magnitsky Act against Moraes. In response, Brazil's president Lula published an article in The New York Times saying that he wants to "establish an open and frank dialogue with the president of the United States", but stated that "Brazilian democracy and sovereignty are non-negotiable". Following subsequent diplomatic contacts between Lula and Trump, tensions gradually eased toward the end of 2025, with the Trump administration lifting the additional tariffs and revoking the sanctions against Moraes. On 16 June 2026, the Supreme Court sentenced Eduardo Bolsonaro to 4 years and 2 months in prison for coercion in judicial proceedings after finding that he had lobbied the Trump administration to impose sanctions aimed at influencing the trial of his father, Jair Bolsonaro.
Context
Civilian–military relations in Brazil
The relationship between the Armed Forces and politics in Brazil has been a significant aspect of the country's history. Since the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, the military has played an important role in political affairs, including direct intervention during the military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. Even after the democratic transition, the Armed Forces have continued to exert influence in national debates, often presenting themselves as guarantors of stability and order.
In the 21st century, the military's role in politics resurfaced with greater intensity during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2022), a former army captain who appointed a large number of active and retired military officers to government positions. This development renewed discussions about the politicization of the Armed Forces and their place within Brazil's democratic framework. Tensions peaked during the 2021 military crisis, when the commanders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force collectively resigned following the dismissal of the Minister of Defense.
Fake news and attempts to discredit the electoral system
Fake news was an element with special prominence in the elections in Brazil in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and was used by various actors with the objective of convincing and manipulating the electors and their votes. Although fake news is not a new phenomenon, widespread access to digital communication tools and the ease with which messages were massively spread gave false information, in 2022, a leading role in electoral debates and were the focus of containment actions by courts, legislators and media companies.
2022–2023 Brazilian election protests
Protests relating to the 2022 Brazilian general election transpired in the lead-up to it, and dramatically increased shortly after the conclusion of its second round on 30 October, in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president. The protestors held mass protests and roadblocks nationwide.
Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, alleging election fraud, began blocking roads and highways in the country. At least 23 Brazilian states, plus the Federal District, recorded roadblocks as of 1 November, adding up to at least 267 roadblocks according to data from Federal Highway Police (PRF).
The protesters have in common the rejection of the election result, allegation of frauds and call for a coup or a federal or military intervention to reassess the elections results and even to prevent the president inauguration, which affronts the Brazilian Constitution. These blockades have been widely criticized by entities, politicians, and authorities due to the fact that they have caused disruptions to the food supply, paralysis of the supply of products such as fuel and medicines, impediment of the citizen's right to transit, cancellation of flights, crashes, and deaths. They have also been called attacks against democracy, as they contest the electoral process and its legitimacy. The protests have since been characterized as domestic terrorism by part of the Brazilian media.
On 8 January 2023, pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators stormed the Praça dos Três Poderes, assaulting the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate halls of the National Congress of Brazil, the Supreme Federal Court palace and the Palácio do Planalto in an attempt to overthrow the Federal Government. The insurrection failed and the Praça was cleared by law enforcement after a few hours; several thousand Bolsonaro supporters were arrested following the event.
Investigation
"Coup draft"
On 12 January 2023, the Federal Police found a draft announcement of a coup in a search of former justice minister Anderson Torres's home. The document outlined a plan to implement a state of defense (estado de defesa) that would annul the 2022 election results. It also leveled a series of accusations, such as abuse of power and lack of impartiality, against the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which had been investigating Bolsonaro and his allies while he was in office.
Anderson Torres's testimony
Upon his return to Brazil, Anderson Torres was arrested and detained for four months while Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes investigated his role in the riots.
In his testimony to the Federal Police on 2 February 2023, Torres sought to dismiss the coup draft found in his residence as a document "without legal viability", disposable, according to him. He also stated that it was not he who had placed the draft decree in a folder on his shelf, and that he believed his domestic worker had done so while house cleaning. Torres reaffirmed that he had not drafted the document and did not know who did.
To the accusation of negligence or complicity with the 2022–2023 Brazilian election protests that culminated in the attack on Congress on 8 January, Torres, who took office on 2 January as head of security for the Federal District, claimed he had fulfilled all necessary verification and security measures, relying on reports that did not foresee radical actions by Bolsonaro supporters. Since he thought he had fulfilled his duties, he said, he deemed it appropriate to proceed with a planned family trip to the United States, where he stayed in Orlando, the same city as Bolsonaro, with whom he said he had not met nor coordinated his plans.
Ricardo Cappelli, the intervenor Lula put in charge of Brasília's public security after the riots, called 8 January "a structured sabotage operation" adding: "Torres took over as secretary for security (in Brasília), dismissed the whole chain of command and then took a trip. If that's not sabotage, I don't know what is."
Regarding the whereabouts of his phone, Torres claimed to have turned it off after his arrest was ordered, due to the number of calls he received, and lost it shortly afterward. He said he did not know where it was but he said he had not left it in the United States. Torres offered to provide the password to his cloud storage account.
Marcos do Val's account
On 15 June 2023, the Federal Police, authorized by Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, searched residences linked to Senator Marcos do Val, who was investigated for obstructing investigations of the 8 January coup attempt in Brasília. The senator's Twitter account was also blocked.
O Globo had access to the federal police report, revealing that do Val had boasted in a number of WhatsApp groups that he had the fate of two presidents of the republic in his hands: "I have a bomb in hand to destroy Bolsonaro and another one to destroy Lula." He also said he was responsible for Bolsonaro taking refuge in the United States after he lost the 2022 election: "I was invited by him [Bolsonaro] to do this. As member of CCAI [Mixed Intelligence Activities Control Commission], I started to wind it up to see how far it would go. When it was about to happen, I informed him that he would be committing a very serious crime against democracy and, from there, I reported it to the responsible authority. It was because of this that he fled to the USA."
Do Val returned to the Senate on 3 August 2023.
Ailton Gomes's audio recordings
Audio recordings from 15 December 2022, of former major and Liberal Party (PL) candidate, Ailton Gomes, record instructions to then-Army Commander Freire Gomes to do "(...) o que tem que fazer" (what needs to be done), setting the deadline for the following day for him to make a statement in support of the coup; otherwise, it added, the statement would come from Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro's coup meetings
In a statement proferred as part of a plea deal approved by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Mauro Cid stated that Jair Bolsonaro met with the commanders of the Armed Forces' three branches to assess the possibility of carrying out a coup, whose draft declaration had been prepared by his advisors, with the purpose of preventing the change of government. The draft was allegedly delivered by Filipe Martins, advisor for international affairs. Its content anticipated the arrest of political opponents and justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The plan was allegedly accepted by the commander of the Brazilian Navy, Admiral Almir Garnier Santos. However, General Marco Antônio Freire Gomes of the Brazilian Army reportedly refused to participate, leading to abandonment. Bolsonaro's defense team has said that the statements are slanderous.
In addition to the military, Cid would have said that Bolsonaro received, in meetings at the presidential palace, various people with coup plans that involved, among other things, using a misinterpretation of article 142 of the Federal Constitution to entrust the armed forces with exercising the moderating power. Warned about the risks, the then-president would have assumed the sad expression that marked his first public appearance after the end of the elections.
Reactions
The discovery of the draft caused widespread repercussions in Brazilian politics, society, and judiciary. Jurists debated the inherent illegality of possessing of such a document, regardless of its use or the success of its use. Senator Randolfe Rodrigues called for an inquiry by the Supreme Federal Court into the "attempted coup d'état".
During the media uproar that occurred after the draft's discovery, Torres said on social media that the draft was "most likely" a document that was meant to be discarded and shredded by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. According to him, the draft was taken without his knowledge and used out of context, fueling "false narratives" against him. Conversely, his lawyers said that the draft had been handed to him by a "citizen", though some of the material in the document indicates that it was prepared by someone familiar with the case.
Jair Bolsonaro's defense team moved to exclude the document from a parallel investigation of his attempt to discredit the electoral system. This investigation arose from a speech against the Superior Electoral Court, delivered at a meeting with ambassadors in 2022. The request was denied, and the document remained part of the evidence.
On 30 June 2023, a majority at the Superior Electoral Court declared Jair Bolsonaro ineligible to hold political power until 2030 for his abuse and misuse of communication media during this meeting.
Investigation
The Federal Police conducted several forensic examinations and investigations regarding the document to trace its circulation among government authorities, among other purposes. According to information gathered by investigators, the draft reached Bolsonaro's aides, as well as members of his reelection committee. An analysis of the various fingerprints found on the document was carried out by the Federal Police. Efforts were made to trace the printer that originated the document via documentology, mainly aiming to verify whether the draft originated from a public agency. The forensic technique in use is only effective for tracing medium or large sized printers, and is less accurate for consumer printers.
8 January Parliamentary Inquiry Committee
On 26 April 2023, the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate jointly established a Parliamentary Inquiry Committee to investigate the 8 January attacks. The investigation concluded on 18 October 2023, following the approval of Senator Eliziane Gama’s report by a 20–11 vote, which formally charged 61 individuals, including former president Jair Bolsonaro.