Summary Flavio Bolsonaro reportedly flees to the United States after losing Brazil’s presidential election, defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports, three sources said.
The US Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro's lawyer also did not respond.
Bolsonaro's location was not immediately clear. One source who is close to the Bolsonaro family said Flavio had arrived in the United States, but declined to say where.
The source said US President Donald Trump's administration had granted asylum to Flavio and his immediate family. Trump has previously alleged Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
Flavio's departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas. Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday's election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.
The elder Jair Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office. He eventually returned to Brazil but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
Trump made no mention of Flavio Bolsonaro's departure in comments to the press on Monday, but said the Brazilian vote "looked like another rigged election."
Lula's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Bolsonaro was favored to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to Lula.
On Monday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports as part of a money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing, but his documents were canceled after the deadline lapsed, two other sources said.
Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, said on Monday he had no plans to flee.
"I have never thought about leaving the country," he said. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."
Brazil's Minister of Institutional Relations Jose Guimaraes commented on reports of Bolsonaro leaving the country in an interview with CNN Brasil.
"I have no confirmation from the Federal Police or oversight bodies," he told the news outlet. "But this speaks a lot about our opponent’s lack of preparation to govern the country."
FOLLOWING FATHER'S PATH
Senator Bolsonaro has yet to officially concede defeat — saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities — but his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory.
It remains unclear how Bolsonaro was able to leave the country while he was facing a 24-hour deadline to hand over his passports. A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's younger brother who lives in the United States, said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move.
"If my brother does not win, I'm in favor that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month.
