The Washington Post reports:

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Tuesday ordered a police investigation into alleged ties between a donor network co-founded by Vice President JD Vance and the presidential campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro in the run-up to Sunday’s election.

Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino directed the Brazilian federal police to investigate the “nature” of the contacts between the Rockbridge Network, which was founded in 2019, and any Brazilian companies or political operatives to aid or finance Bolsonaro’s run.

It’s a crime in Brazil for a political candidate to accept funding or other campaign assistance from a foreign source.

The investigation, Dino wrote, was “necessary to verify if there was the effective furnishment of resources — including human resources — services, or other measurable economic advantages, identifying its origin, its destination and its eventual use in the campaign.”

Rockbridge denied any such contact.

Vance has spoken at Rockbridge donor gatherings as recently as a year ago. His office on Tuesday declined to comment.

Bolsonaro, who lost the election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, fled Brazil for the United States on Tuesday in defiance of a separate Supreme Court order, three people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post. He and his family will be issued visas to stay in the U.S., a senior State Department official told The Post.

Before the election, Rockbridge’s alleged activities in Brazil triggered several complaints by Bolsonaro’s political opponents. One was by Lula’s Workers’ Party, which filed a complaint with the Supreme Court. Another was by presidential candidate Renan Santos, who took his case to the Supreme Electoral Court.

Santos, who was eliminated in the first round of the election, alleged that Brazilians who claimed to represent Rockbridge had discussed providing U.S. support with Bolsonaro campaign officials. [Continue reading…]