Former Bolsonaro press secretary under investigation

Fabio Wajngarten. Photo: Anderson Riedel/PR

Back in May, President Jair Bolsonaro’s former press secretary Fabio Wajngarten gave one of the Senate’s Covid inquiry’s most colorful testimonies. In his attempt to deflect questions from the hearings committee, he irritated senators to the point of being called a “liar” and even being threatened with arrest. Now that the congressional investigation is over, a federal prosecutor in Brasília has presented perjury charges against Mr. Wajngarten.

The former press secretary was caught lying on multiple occasions and senators asked inquiry chairman Omar Aziz to order his arrest — but he refused to do so. Members of the committee criticized the decision, saying it set a precedent for witnesses who would believe they could lie under oath.

Those fears were confirmed by a plethora of current and former government officials who blatantly offered false information. If the committee let them escape unscathed, it doesn’t mean prosecutors will.

Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020