Flavio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil for U.S. After Election Loss

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has departed Brazil for the United States following his loss in the recent presidential election and his failure to comply with a Supreme Court order to relinquish his passports, according to two sources.

The US Embassy in Brazil has not yet responded to a request for comment, and Bolsonaro's lawyer declined to comment on the matter.

Bolsonaro, who was considered a frontrunner, was defeated in Sunday's election by leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. On Monday, he was given a 24-hour ultimatum by the Supreme Court to surrender his passports as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation, in which he maintains his innocence. The deadline has since passed, leading to the cancellation of his travel documents, according to additional sources.

Flavio Bolsonaro's departure echoes that of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who also traveled to the United States after refusing to concede his 2022 election loss to Lula. Jair Bolsonaro later returned to Brazil and was subsequently sentenced to 27 years for plotting a coup.

Flavio Bolsonaro has not officially conceded his defeat. He stated on Sunday that he would seek to annul the election results, citing alleged irregularities. However, his Liberal Party acknowledged Lula's victory on Monday.

A senior official with the Brazilian Federal Police indicated that Bolsonaro did not leave the country through any official border crossing.

Paulo Figueiredo, an influencer often described as an unofficial spokesperson for the Bolsonaro family, refused to comment on Bolsonaro's current location, stating in a message that he was not in the mood to speak to the press after facing what he called unfairly thwarted efforts.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio Bolsonaro's younger brother, who resides in the United States, had previously suggested that a loss for his brother might necessitate leaving Brazil. He expressed this sentiment to podcaster Steven Crowder earlier in the month.