The lawyers who could put the Bolsonaros in hot water

Victor Granado Alves and his wife, Mariana Teixeira Frassetto Granado, were two ordinary middle-class Rio de Janeiro lawyers — completely anonymous to the top level of the city’s legal community. But on May 16, the couple suddenly gained nationwide fame when businessman Paulo Marinho — a former ally of President Bolsonaro and his family — gave an explosive interview hinting at the existence of corruption schemes and illegal leaks of police operations, all happening under the auspices of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the president’s eldest son.

Mr. Marinho, who was elected in 2018 as Flávio’s substitute, told newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that a detective tipped off the senator that he would soon be targeted by the Federal Police. Marshals postponed the operation until after the runoff stage of the 2018 election, to avoid compromising Jair Bolsonaro’s chances at the presidency. In the meantime, the eldest Bolsonaro son was told to “make arrangements” — read, destroy evidence. This warning, according to Mr. Marinho, was passed on through lawyer Victor Granado Alves.

Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation for a rudimentary — and frankly, quite common — scheme in Brazilian politics. While working as a state lawmaker in Rio de Janeiro, he allegedly skimmed a percentage off the top of his staffers’ salaries. The plot thickened, however, when it was reported that the corruption racket was run by Fabrício Queiroz, a former police officer with links to paramilitary mafias in Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Queiroz is also a personal friend of President...