Lula fires Brazil intel agency No. 2 in Bolsonaro spying probe

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has sacked Brazil’s deputy intelligence director amid an investigation into alleged illegal espionage also involving one of predecessor Jair Bolsonaro’s sons, according to an official bulletin published Tuesday.

Number two intelligence official Alessandro Moretti is a target in a federal police probe investigating a clandestine government network that allegedly used Israeli spyware FirstMile to illegally eavesdrop on hundreds of politicians and public figures during the Bolsonaro presidency (2019-2022).

Investigators say a group within the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) spied on perceived Bolsonaro opponents, including supreme court justices and the former lower-house speaker.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who authorized Monday’s raids — and was himself an alleged target of the espionage — said police had identified Jair Bolsonaro’s son Carlos as part of the “political nucleus” suspected of ordering the illegal spying.

Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right ex-army captain who lost a divisive election to Lula in 2022, condemned the probe as “persecution” the day before when federal officers raided the home and offices of Carlos, who is a Rio de Janeiro city councilor and the second of the ex-president’s four sons.

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Lula called Bolsonaro’s claim “a bunch of nonsense.”

“The Brazilian government doesn’t give orders to the federal police, much less the courts,” the veteran leftist said in an interview with CBN radio.

Carlos Bolsonaro appeared for questioning by federal police Tuesday in Rio, but made no statement to the media. A lawyer for the Bolsonaros said the questioning was in connection with an unrelated case.

Earlier Tuesday, the city councilor posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, of his home, which he said he had found “turned upside down” after the police operation.

Last Thursday, police also raided the home and offices of Bolsonaro’s former intelligence chief, Alexandre Ramagem, who is now a federal lawmaker.

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There had been speculation Lula could fire top figures at the intelligence agency over the scandal.

Asked if he trusted Abin’s current leadership, the president said “you can never be sure.”

Lula said he had “great confidence” in Abin director Luiz Fernando Correa, whom he named to the post.

But he had suggested earlier that he would fire Moretti if allegations that he passed information illegally to Ramagem proved true.

– By: © Agence France-Presse