Brazilian jurists and lawmakers have asked the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR) to investigate Senator Flavio Bolsonaro after he publicly said he urged US President Donald Trump to classify two major Brazilian criminal factions as terrorist organizations.
The Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy (ABJD) filed a representation on Monday, June 1, arguing that the senator may have committed an offense against national sovereignty. A separate filing by seven federal deputies aligned with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's governing base was submitted on Friday, according to Gazeta do Povo.
Flavio Bolsonaro, a senator from Rio de Janeiro for the Liberal Party (PL) and a pre-candidate for Brazil's presidency, met Trump and senior American officials in Washington shortly before the US State Department announced the designation of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV) as terrorist organizations. Flavio said he had personally asked the US government to classify the two factions as terrorist groups.
The Sovereignty Argument
The complaints center on whether a sitting Brazilian senator soliciting foreign action against domestic criminal groups violated provisions protecting national sovereignty. The left-wing lawmakers framed Flavio's meetings in Washington with Trump and senior US figures as the basis for the request, arguing the trip invited foreign interference in a domestic security matter.
Flávio's Response
Flavio's campaign has rejected the complaints, saying they politicize the courts and that his contacts in Washington amounted to international cooperation against organized crime rather than an attack on sovereignty. He and his allies argue that the Lula administration's opposition to the US designation reflects weakness toward criminal factions.
The filings add a legal dimension to a dispute that has already become a central theme of Brazil's 2026 campaign, pitting the government's sovereignty argument against the opposition's law-and-order message. The PGR will decide whether to open a formal inquiry.