Brazil's top court convicts son of former President Bolsonaro for coercion

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SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's Supreme Court convicted former lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro on Tuesday for coercion related to the trial that last year sentenced his father and ex- President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for a coup attempt.

The court sentenced him to four years and two months in prison. All five justices considering the case agreed he illegally interfered by lobbying the U.S. government to threaten Brazilian officials to stop the trial.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also oversaw the former president's coup attempt case, said Eduardo Bolsonaro's job as a federal lawmaker “is not to lobby overseas against his own country.” De Moraes and his wife were sanctioned by the U.S. government in July last year.

Lawyers for Eduardo Bolsonaro disputed the verdict, saying there was not enough evidence to convict him. The former lawmaker has lived in Texas since February 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump slapped Brazil with a 50% tariff last year in protest of Jair Bolsonaro 's prosecution for trying to overturn his electoral defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022.

Trump’s relations with Lula seem to have improved in early May, when the Brazilian leader visited the White House, but then in June the U.S. government once again proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, claiming the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in unreasonable trade practices.

Lula said that during his visit to Washington in early May, he handed Trump documents showing that the U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil.

Eduardo Bolsonaro did not make comments about the Supreme Court's decision. He is campaigning for his brother Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who is expected to challenge Lula in October's elections although his candidacy has faced a recent scandal related to a payment to a disgraced banker.

Eduardo and Flávio Bolsonaro recently visited U.S. officials in Washington, including Trump.

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