Members of the Senate’s Covid inquiry are expecting Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco to take action after one of President Jair Bolsonaro’s sons published a social media photo apparently threatening members of the hearings committee.
On Monday, Mr. Bolsonaro’s youngest son, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, posted a photograph on his Instagram account of a number of pistols displayed on a table, with a caption threatening members of the Senate’s Covid inquiry. The picture was taken at a gun store owned by a friend of Jair Renan’s.
Inquiry president Omar Aziz said that Mr. Pacheco will take all necessary measures in relation to threats against the committee’s members.
“I spoke with Rodrigo Pacheco this morning and he asked me to tell senators that he has 100-percent solidarity with the Covid inquiry, that this type of absurd act cannot go on, and that he will take all necessary measures in regard to the threats.” Mr. Aziz went on to say that Jair Renan Bolsonaro’s behavior was that of a “delinquent.” Senator Rogério Carvalho, in turn, saw the social media post as a “veiled threat.”
“Jair Renan [Bolsonaro]’s conduct is unacceptable because everyone must be subject to the law, even being the son of the president. He should be setting an example and not engaging in threats. It seems to me that this is a family trait, attacking democracy and democratic institutions,” he said.
Indeed, the president’s youngest son has found himself under the Covid inquiry’s microscope, with senators investigating his relationship with Precisa Medicamentos lobbyist Marconny Faria. Precisa is the company at the center of a vaccine purchase scandal, involving a fraudulent contract signed between the firm and the Health Ministry.
Last week, the Senate inquiry approved a request to summon Jair Renan Bolsonaro’s mother, Ana Cristina Valle, to investigate her connections with the lobbyist.
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