Computer equipment and communications were seized in Brazil’s largest city as part of a new Brazilian investigation announced Sunday into “possible external interference by the United States” in the nation’s presidential election, Agencia EFE reported.
On Sunday, Brazil held its first-round presidential election, which pitted Flávio Bolsonaro — a far-right politician supported by President Donald Trump — against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s progressive incumbent president and frequent Trump critic. Bolsonaro “outperformed expectations” Sunday after receiving 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45.1%, forcing the two into a runoff.
Brazil’s Federal Police, however, launched an investigation into whether the United States had unlawfully interfered in Brazil’s election, executing two search and seizure warrants in São Paulo on Friday.
At the heart of the investigation is a report from The Guardian that revealed the Trump administration planned to divert taxpayer dollars to fund groups opposing what it called “judicial overreach and censorship” by Brazil’s judicial system. Brazil’s Federal Police argued the Trump administration’s plan was designed to "destabilize and undermine the institutionality of the Brazilian Judiciary," Agencia EFE reported.
“Brazil's Federal Police is now officially investigating the US intervention in the election,” wrote journalist and analyst Benjamin Norton in response to Agencia EFE’s report. “The Trump admin openly supported far-right US puppet candidate Bolsonaro.”
Fears mounted ahead of Brazil’s first-round presidential election on Sunday after the Trump administration suspended all U.S. consular services in Brazil just two days before the election, a move critics described as “unprecedented.”
Bolsonaro is a lawyer, politician, and son of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president who’s currently serving a 27-year sentence on charges related to an attempted coup after his election loss in 2022. Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazil last year in response to Jair Bolsonaro’s prosecution, which he called a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY.”
“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,” Trump wrote in a July 2025 letter to Lula. “This Trial should not be taking place.”