Brazil’s ex-military chiefs told police Bolsonaro discussed coup in 2022

The former heads of Brazil’s Army and Air Force have confirmed to federal police that ex-President Jair Bolsonaro discussed a draft decree to prevent the handover of power after the 2022 election, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Their testimonies, delivered to investigators in recent weeks, augur badly for Bolsonaro, whose political career looks finished and is now widely seen as battling to stay out of jail.
Bolsonaro has already been ruled politically ineligible until 2030 for spreading electoral misinformation during the 2022 campaign, and recently had his passport seized by police probing his efforts to cling onto power after he lost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the election.
Last week, former Army chief Marco Antonio Freire Gomes told police in a seven-hour deposition that there were discussions with Bolsonaro over a draft decree that could have prevented Lula’s inauguration, two sources said.