I keep asking all of these American liberal pundits and streamers and YouTube hosts who are sitting around tweeting extremely vehement opinions about the situation in Brazil to come on my show and elaborate on those views -- just for a polite interview to ask them questions about their positions -- but so far none will, because they have no idea what they're talking about, and know that they know basically nothing other than a few inch-deep clichés about Lula, and are only saying the things they know they're supposed to say to keep their followers and subscribers happy. I don't know why silence isn't an option when it comes to topics you know basically nothing about?

CRUCIAL FACTS ON THE FLAVIO BOLSONARO MATTER: It's not just Flavio Bolsonaro who fled Brazil to escape the tyrannical persecution of Alexandre de Moraes and the pro-Lula wing of the Supreme Court. There are dozens of Brazilian exiles who have done the same: dissident journalists, activists, bloggers, and politicians who all fled to avoid certain prison for political opposition. In most of these cases, Moraes has demanded the extradition of those who fled and whom he wants to imprison back in Brazil. But Moraes' extradition requests have been repeatedly denied by multiple countries and institutions on the grounds that these prosecutions are politically motivated or otherwise corrupted. Among those concluing this: Spain, Italy, INTERPOL, and even the US under Biden. Just today, Italy refused Brazil's demand to extradite a person named @edutagli, who was once a top aide to Moraes, but then fled to Italy after Moraes accused him of having been my source in a huge leak from Moraes' office that I obtained for reporting I did with @Folha in 2024. That massive leak enabled us to publish roughly 20 articles proving systemic abuses of power by Moraes against his political enemies: exactly the reason so many Brazilians, including Bolsonaro, know they can't get a fair trial in Brazil. Italy today refused to extradite the person accused of being our source on the grounds that the proceedings would be a farce because Moraes — as he so often does — wants to act as the supposed victim, investigator, and judge, and thus his demand falls well outside of Italy's extradition standards. Again, multiple countries have concluded the same, showing what a farce Brazil's once-respected judicial system has become under the Lula/Moraes regime. Moraes has overseen a system of political persecution masquerading as criminal justice that has been recognized as a sham by multiple countries that are not exactly Bolsonaro allies. Nobody in their right mind who is a political enemy of Moraes would remain in Brazil once if it is clear that he intends to imprison you, since he has proven that guilt is a foregone conclusion and he operates with no legal or constitutional limits of any kind. That is why asylum under international law exists: to protect those who cannot obtain justice in their own country because the justice system has been corrupted and commandeered for political persecution. Many people, such as Julian Assange, have needed that protection (which Lula cheered). Now people need it from Moraes in Brazil. That is sadly one of the main legacies of both Lula and Moraes over the last six years.

Brazil's Federal Police issues a statement that Flavio Bolsonaro is not considered a "fugitive" from justice because he has not been charged with any crimes and there was no order issued for his arrest when he left Brazil for the US. Part of the motive here is to explain away the embarrassment that Brazilian authorities had no idea what was going on in their country all day, but it is also true that -- contrary to many prevailing media and political narratives in the US -- Flavio has not been charged with (let alone convicted of) crimes and no arrest order had yet been issued when he left.

To say that Alexandre de Moraes is an authoritarian tyrant who has repeatedly abused his power to censor, arrrest and otherwise persecute both his critics and Bolsonaro supporters -- or to say that Moraes himself is more implicated in the Banco Master scandal than anyone and thus should not be judging anyone, particularly given that he deleted his own messages when Vorcaro was asking him when he should flee Brazil to escape arrest and justice -- is not to say that Flavio Bolsonaro is innocent. These are completely separate and unrelated points. And this is not a complicated point. It's exactly the same as the point I made about Lava Jato: the fact that there were serious irregularities in Lula's prosecution (in my view) did not mean and does mean that Lula was innocent of the numerous corruption charges he faced. The key point in all of this: there is no legitimate Brazilian democracy or credible Brazilian justice while Moraes remains at the center of the most consequential decisions. Until Moraes himself is aggressively investigated for the R$ 200 million his family got from Vorcaro and the messages he deleted, anything involving Moraes -- including his seizure of Flavio Bolsonaro's passport and his order not to leave the country -- is a complete farce and travesty.