An IP address from Brazil’s presidential palace was used to print the cards, asserting that Bolsonaro, who had spent years inveighing against the coronavirus vaccine and swore off ever receiving one, had been vaccinated against covid-19.
Days later, Bolsonaro decamped for the United States, which at the time granted entry to foreigners only if they were vaccinated.
If convicted of the alleged crimes, Bolsonaro could face years in prison.
The accusations marked the first time federal police have sought criminal charges against the politician, whose incendiary comments, scientific denialism and conservative government policies during his four years in office left Latin America’s largest country deeply polarized.
The accusations further tighten the legal vice around Bolsonaro, who since leaving office has been ensnared by a bevy of criminal and political investigations. The 68-year-old has been barred from running for office for at least eight years and last month was named a target in a federal investigation into whether his government plotted a military takeover of the country.
Bolsonaro, who has denied that he falsified his vaccine card, has not yet commented on Tuesday’s allegations. His attorney, Fabio Wajngarten, defended him on the social media platform X. He called the police case “absurd” and alleged “political prosecution.” But Wajngarten did not directly address the allegations.
“While he was president, he was totally exempt from presenting any type of certification on his trips,” the attorney said. “This is about political persecution and trying to empty his enormous political capital, which is only growing.”
At the time of Bolsonaro’s trip, the United States had exempted “persons on diplomatic or official foreign government travel” from its vaccination requirement, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the Brazilian Foreign Ministry told The Washington Post in May that Bolsonaro, who was still president at the time of his entry into the United States, was not on official state business. No diplomatic meeting had been scheduled.
In an investigatory report obtained by The Post, police alleged that Bolsonaro was directly tied to the fraud. Top lieutenant Mauro Cid, against whom police are also seeking charges, told police that Bolsonaro had given the order to falsify the vaccine records for him and his daughter.
Cid said he then handed the new vaccine cards to Bolsonaro while they were inside the presidential palace.
“With this,” the police document states, “these people were able to emit their respective certificates and then use them to undermine sanitation restrictions.”
