Brazil's top court orders raids on Bolsonaro; Washington revokes judge's visa

By Luciana Magalhaes and Ricardo Brito

BRASILIA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Brazil's Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday, banning him from contacting foreign officials over allegations he courted the interference of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Washington responded by hitting Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes and unspecified other allies with visa restrictions.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Moraes' court orders a "political witch hunt" that had prompted him to make immediate visa revocations for "Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members." The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump has already tried to use pressure to help Bolsonaro by announcing a 50% tariff on goods from Latin America's No. 1 economy.

Bolsonaro told Reuters that he believed the court orders were a reaction to Trump's criticism of his trial before the Supreme Court for trying to overturn the last election.

The court's crackdown on Bolsonaro added to evidence that Trump's tactics are backfiring in Brazil, compounding trouble for his ideological ally and rallying public support behind a defiant leftist government.

Bolsonaro was banned from contacting foreign officials, using social media or approaching embassies, according to the decision issued by Moraes, who cited a "concrete possibility" of him fleeing the country. His home was raided by federal police and he had an ankle monitor placed on him.

In an interview with Reuters at his party's headquarters on Friday, Bolsonaro called Moraes a "dictator" and described the latest court orders as acts of "cowardice."

"I feel supreme humiliation," he said, when asked how he felt about wearing the ankle monitor. "I am 70 years old, I was president of the republic for four years."

Bolsonaro denied any plans to leave the country, but said he would meet with Trump if he could get access to his passport, which police seized last year. He also said he had sought out the top U.S. diplomat in Brazil to discuss Trump's tariff threat.

Asked about Bolsonaro's comments to Reuters, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said on Friday, citing previous comments from Trump, "Bolsonaro and his supporters are under attack from a weaponized court system."

In his decision, Moraes said the restrictions against Bolsonaro were due to accusations that the former president was making efforts to get the "head of state of a foreign nation" to interfere in Brazilian courts, which the judge cast as an attack on national sovereignty.

Bolsonaro is on trial before Brazil's Supreme Court on charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office in January 2023.

Trump has in recent weeks pressed Brazil to stop the legal case against Bolsonaro, saying that his ally was the victim of a "witch hunt". The U.S. president said last week he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods from August 1, in a letter that opened with criticism of the Bolsonaro trial.

Trump on Thursday shared on Truth Social a letter he sent to Bolsonaro. "I have seen the terrible treatment you are receiving at the hands of an unjust system turned against you. This trial should end immediately!" he wrote.

Moraes wrote in his decision that the higher tariffs threatened by Trump were aimed at creating a serious economic crisis in Brazil to interfere in the country's judicial system.

Bolsonaro was also prohibited from contacting key allies including his son Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian congressman who has been working in Washington to drum up support his father.

Bolsonaro told Reuters he had been talking to his son almost daily, denying any concerted U.S. lobbying effort on his behalf. He said he expected his son to seek U.S. citizenship to avoid returning to Brazil.

A five-judge panel of Supreme Court judges reviewed and upheld Moraes' decision on Friday afternoon.

(Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes, Ricardo Brito, Gabriel Araujo, Eduardo Simoes, Pedro Fonseca, Isabel Teles and Kanishka Singh; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Gabriel Araujo, Brendan O'Boyle and Sarah Morland; Editing by Brad Haynes, Alexandra Hudson and Rosalba O'Brien)