House Democrats investigating State Department’s role in facilitating former Brazilian presidential candidate That of Flávio Bolsonaro from Brazil to the United States, as part of ongoing criminal investigations into him and his family.
A group of House Democrats, including many prominent members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the secretary of state. Marco Rubio Thursday evening with a list of questions about the State Department’s involvement in Bolsonaro fleeing Brazil and the process he went through to approve a US visa for him upon his departure.
In the letter, shared first with POLITICO ask the Democrats Rubio clarify how the State Department coordinated with other agencies to grant the visa, whether officials were aware of ongoing investigations against Bolsonaro, and the extent to which the State Department and its officials assisted Bolsonaro leave Brazil and come to the United States.
“The American people and Congress have a legitimate interest in understanding whether U.S. diplomatic and migration resources were used to facilitate the travel of a foreign political figure under these circumstances,” the lawmakers wrote. “Transparency is particularly important when the reported events involve foreign legal proceedings, sensitive bilateral relations, and the consistent application of U.S. diplomatic and immigration policies.”
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