Brasília inquiry subpoenas Bolsonaro’s aide

The Brasília district legislature’s select committee into the January 8 riots has approved a motion to subpoena Army Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, former President Jair Bolsonaro’s right-hand man. 

The motion, authored by state lawmaker Fábio Félix of the left-wing Socialism and Freedom Party (Psol), was approved in a 4-0 vote.

Mauro Cid served as Mr. Bolsonaro’s personal aide-de-camp, mostly running errands and arranging payments of the president and his family’s personal expenses. He was arrested by the Federal Police on May 3 on suspicion of defrauding Covid vaccine records.

The Federal Police investigation showed that Col. Cid’s cell phone, as well as a computer at the presidential palace, were used to create digital copies of a fraudulent Covid vaccination certificate in Mr. Bolsonaro’s name.

Col. Cid also tried and failed to recover jewelry gifted to the president by the Saudi government, valued at BRL 16 million (USD 3.3 million), which had been withheld by the Federal Revenue Service. He sent a military official to São Paulo’s international airport to retrieve the gifts in December 2022, during the final days of the Bolsonaro administration.

Mauro Cid was back in the news after the leak of audio messages he received from two military officers close to Mr. Bolsonaro, discussing a coup d’etat.

The Brasília select committee approved the request to question Col. Cid about the January 8 riots, as well as the December 12 attack on the Federal Police headquarters by pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators.

Separately, Col. Cid is scheduled to testify again to the Federal Police this afternoon about the Covid certificates case. This will be the third time he has testified this year. He was previously questioned in April about the Saudi jewelry case, and testified again on the day of his arrest on the Covid certificates case.

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