Brazilian Court Orders Probe Into Vance-Linked Donor Network Over Bolsonaro Campaign

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has ordered federal police to investigate alleged ties between a conservative donor network co-founded by Vice President JD Vance and the failed presidential campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro.

Justice Flávio Dino directed police on Tuesday to examine the nature of any contacts between the Rockbridge Network and Brazilian companies or political operatives that may have aimed to aid or finance Bolsonaro’s run, according to The Washington Post. Rockbridge was founded in 2019.

Under Brazilian law, it is a crime for a political candidate to accept funding or other campaign assistance from a foreign source.

Dino wrote that the investigation was needed to determine whether resources, including staff, services or other economic advantages, were actually provided to the campaign, and to trace their origin and use.

Rockbridge has flatly denied any involvement. “The Brazilians made false representations about their relationship with Rockbridge and created documents representing or referencing Rockbridge without Rockbridge’s knowledge or consent,” the network said in a statement.

Vance has spoken at Rockbridge donor gatherings as recently as a year ago. His office declined to comment.

The probe stems from complaints filed by Bolsonaro’s political opponents before the election. One came from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party, which filed a complaint with the Supreme Court. Another came from former presidential candidate Renan Santos, who alleged that Brazilians claiming to represent Rockbridge discussed providing U.S. support with Bolsonaro campaign officials. Santos was eliminated in the first round of voting.

Bolsonaro’s campaign has said it received no foreign money.

Flávio Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s election to Lula. He left Brazil for the United States on Tuesday in defiance of a separate Supreme Court order, according to the Post. A senior State Department official told the paper that Bolsonaro and his family will be issued visas to stay in the U.S.

Bolsonaro was already under investigation over his ties to a banker accused of involvement in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud and to a man suspected of laundering money tied to Brazil’s betting industry.

The order could further strain relations between Brasília and the Trump administration. The two governments have clashed over the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio’s father and a Trump ally, who was convicted last year of attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democratic order and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison. Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods and sanctions on several officials in an effort to pressure Brazil to drop the case.
Flávio Bolsonaro campaigned on promises to free his father, pardon supporters convicted in the 2023 assault on government buildings in Brasília and impeach the Supreme Court justices involved in their prosecution.