ArmedForces
- SUPER SHORT: 1/13: The Minister of Citizenship #JoaoRoma announced the launch of a new welfare program in November. The ideia behind it is to provide with more “TOOLS” for the recipient to get out of it. 2/13: Brazil's #GDP growth and the #inflation in 2021, at this moment, is predicted to be 5.3 and 5.9 percent respectively. In May, the GDP was predicted at 3.5%. 3/13: The gov't is testing the delivery of educational material to some cities by ships and boats, 430 tons, and is expecting to save costs and reach places faster. 4/13: #Highschool in Brazil should start changing in 2022 by offering four sets of curriculums for the student to choose from depending on the area of interest. This will be implemented in three 1-per-year phases in 4 out of 176 thousand public schools. 5/13: President #Bolsonaro's next motorcycle ride should be in the State of #Amazon. 6/13: We don't know if #China took the opportunity of the attention the protests in #Cuba brought to their Marxism-based economic/political system, but their Embassy in Brazil tweeted, “THE #SOCIALISM WITH CHINESE FEATURES PROVED TO BE A SUCCESS, FITTING CHINA'S NATIONAL INSTERESTS AND THE TIMES. OCCIDENTAL POLLS SHOW THAT 90% PLUS [OF THE POPULATION] HAVE SHOWN TO BE PLEASED AND SUPPORT THE #CCP AND THE GOVERNMENT, THE HIGHEST RATE IN THE WORLD.” 7/13: General #BragaNeto was summoned to give explanations to the #Congress for a note released by the #ArmedForces criticizing the #COVIDProbe (#CPIdaCOVID) committee for them wanting to hear him without any formal accusation, stating, “THE ARMED FORCES WON'T ACCEPT AN UNGROUNDED ATTACK ON INSTITUTIONS THAT DEFEND DEMOCRACY AND THE FREEDOM OF THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE.” 8/13: #Congress approved nearly tripling the public funding for the political parties' general expenses and for their campaigns in 2022. The proposed nearly-6-billion-real funding bill now heads to the #Senate. 9/13: The minimum salary in #Brazil should increase from the current 1,100 to 1,147 reals in 2022. Since the beginning of the #Bolsonaro administration until this year, it rose 10.2%. In the previous 3 years it rose 13.4%. 10/13: The #PTParty of #SantaCatarina appealed to the #SupremeCourt (#STF) for the end of a state ban on the use of made-up neutral language. 11/13: #Congress was going to vote on the bill for the addition of paper trail to the voting machines Friday, but due to lack of quorum, only 2 to go, it was postponed for August 5th. 12/13: Last Sunday, President #Bolsonaro attended another motorcycle rally, this time in #PortoAlegre. The attendance was very good. 13/13: President #Bolsonaro confirmed #AndreMendonca as his choice to take #MarcoAurelio's seat as #SupremeCourt justice. Aurelio left his position last Monday after 31 years of service. Mendonça has now to speak in the #Senate.
- Congresswoman #PaulaBelmonte, DF, saw her bill for lowering congresspeople's salary benefits be approved in #Congress. It's now heading to the #Senate. A bill like this to pass is unthinkable, but it's explained due to its limited and timid effects, since it will only limit the benefits of what is called 'super salaries,' affecting a tiny percentage of government officials, but this is positive step in the right direction nevertheless.
- Marcos Roberto Correia da Silva (we will refer to him as #MRCS) is a hacker and worked with the hacking group #VandaTheGod. He and his team, composed of 6 others, some from other countries, were able to invade several government websites and break into systems. According to him, it was all with the purpose of protesting, never to steal data. Among the websites they hacked were the #ArmedForces', the #MinasGerais Police Force's, the #Senate's, and the SupremeJusticeCourt's (#STJ's, not to be confused with the #SupremeCourt [#STF]). He was in jail for some time and, as soon as he left jail in August last year, he reengaged in hacking, and since 2020 was city elections, he and his team took the chance to hack the #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#STE) website in order to get access to the voting system, and they did, resulting in the vote count to be interrupted for a couple of hours. He was identified by an American-Israeli technology company called #CheckPoint, arrested and is currently in jail. Congressman #FilipeBarros, who is the reviewer of the paper trail bill, interviewed him. MRCS stated that many of the hackers that he had contact with are Iranians, and also that the vulnerabilities on government websites are big and the consequent invasion into systems is not hard. He said that changing the final result of an electronic voting electoral system like ours is not easy, but it is relatively easy to change the vote that's being transmitted from the voting stations to the #TSE, since the system has to go online at some point to collect the data from across the country.
- Now and then, some famous Brazilian artists engage in a campaign against the #Bolsonaro administration. The reason is the change the Ministry of Culture is bringing to the #RouanetLaw, a law that was created with the purpose of subsidizing small artists. Over time, the left started to use this law to fund big artists, artists that don't need its money to make money, since they are good and famous enough to attract a good audience. It seems to have paid off. Despite the gov't wanting to give the money to those who have little to no means, some artists engaged in another round of criticism, even recording a song that was mostly disliked. Absolutely nothing he's doing is good for them, corruption is as big as before he was elected, and he is committing a genocide. #PauloCoelho, one of these it-doesn't-matter-what never-Bolsonaro artists, quite famous worldwide and whose wealth allowed him to live away from Brazil since 2007, tweeted in 2016, “IF IT WERE UP TO ME, THEY COULD END THE ROUANET LAW, BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WEALTHY HELPING OUT THE WEALTHY. WE NEED A DIFFERENT LAW. THE CURRENT ONE IS FULL OF LOOPHOLES.” The law prohibits the funding of political projects, but this restriction was never followed to the letter. Coelho himself applied to get funding for a jazz festival in #Bahia recently, but the first time the name of the project was announced it read “FOR DEMOCRACY ANTIFASCIST FESTIVAL,” name that was soon dropped, but the nature of the project had already exposed. Coelho was denied the subsidy. Coelho didn't make his material fortune with the help of this law, his works brings him money from all around the world, and he's been living away from Brazil for quite a while, meaning he could look at and critize his home country without any pressure, so much so that he wrote that tweet. What could possibly have made him give up his freedom to speak honestly and engage in the it-doesn't-matter-what never-Bolsonaro campaigning? Some people believe him not receiving money from the Rouanet Law for this festival is not the only reason.
- Minister of Health #MarceloQueiroga made a statement that displeased rightwingers. “#FAKENEWS HAVE BEEN USED IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO MANIPULATE, TO MISINFORM, AND TO HARM. REGARDING THE #VACCINE, IT'S EVEN MORE SERIOUS, BECAUSE FAKE NEWS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE PEOPLE'S DISBELIEF IN IT AND THUS MAKING THEM NOT WANTING TO GET THE SHOT AND NOT LETTING THEIR CHILDREN GET IT.” This is not the first time Queiroga implies he wishes that 100% of the population be vaccinated, but this latest statement is more troubling because, although it's the left that usually spreads fake news about the vaccine, he seems to be criticizing the right.
- #SaoPaulo governor, João #Doria, announced that he got #COVID for the second time, the first time was before he got the two doses of the Chinese #CoronaVac. He's working from home and claims he's not bad because of the vaccine. His doctor is #DrUip, who tried to hide from the public he (the doctor) took #hydroxychloroquine in 2020, but he eventually admitted to taking it. Dória has always been against it. Everything involving Dória's claims sounds suspicious to a lot of people. Many doubt he's never taken that medicine, many doubt he's ever got the CoronaVac shots. Many doubt he's ever telling the truth or all of it when it comes to this subject. #pandemic
- After the #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#STE) started trying to contact people in charge of #Telegram to demand them to disclose users' information and messages and also to demand that they limit the number of contacts a group can have and the number of people a message can by share with, the #COVIDProbe (#CPIdaCOVID) is also trying to reach out to them. The real reason behind these attempts is to limit its operation in #Brazil, given it was the large sharing of information on WhatsApp that greatly helped Bolsonaro get elected. Telegram allows a group to have 200 thousand members, WhatsApp only 256 members. WhatsApp's unsafe environment for rightwingers makes them vulnerable to being quickly censored and informed on because of a Supreme Court order.
- The #SupremeElectoralCourt (#TSE) will judge a request for the nullification of the election of President #Bolsonaro due to irregularities during his campaign. The argument is that the Bolsonaro campaign team was financing mass sharing of messages on #WhatsApp. An investigation on this has been ongoing since his election, but nothing has been proven, but on the contrary, the opposition was doing this. The name of the investigation is #InqueritodasFakeNews (#FakeNewsProbe). The #SupremeCourt (#STF) is responsible for the investigation and nobody (including lawyers/attorneys) has had access to the content of the process in order to provide the accused parties with a proper defense. Regardless, TSE's still seeking to give #Congress grounds for an #impeachment process based on this messy investigation by the STF.
- President #Bolsonaro went to hospital on the 14th after he didn't feel well in the morning. He was first taken to a military hospital. Bolsonaro was presenting a persistent hiccup in his videos. His doctor said this was due to complications from the surgeries he went through because of his stabbing, resulting in some obstruction in his intestine due to kinking. He needed further exams and maybe undergo another surgery. Because of this he had to go to #SaoPaulo where he was taken to the ICU, and he was breathing and being fed through tubes as a precautionary measure to avoid liquid from accumulating in his stomach and go up and get into his lungs. His intesting got unobstructed without the need for surgery and the tubes were removed on Friday. Ex-congressman and now president of the #PTBParty (and notoriously loved and hated by the right), #RobertoJefferson, tweeted, “LEAD. HIGH DOSES OF LEAD IN PRESIDENT #BOLSONARO'S BLOOD. HOW DID IT GET THERE? FOOD. THE SCOUNDRELS TRIED [TO KILL HIM] AGAIN. [...]” Bolsonaro's doctor hasn't confirmed the information and nobody knows yet where Jefferson got this from. It's worth mentioning that Bolsonaro said he was going to show proof this last Thursday during his weekly live that #electionfraud exists, but didn't do it due to this health problem, fueling the belief of food poisoning with the purpose of stopping him from doing so. On Friday Bolsonaro was better and taking walks in the hospital. Yesterday, he was eating without the tube―soft food. Today he was released from hospital.
- President #Bolsonaro's possibility of running in 2022 as a #PatriotaParty member seems to be over. The party was divided and its president was reluctant to let Bolsonaro take control of it, which is one thing he demands. Now there are the #PTBParty, the #PPParty, the PLParty, and the #MulherBrasileiraParty ('#BrazilianWomanParty') left for him to reach a deal.
- The rules for the bid for the #5Gtechnology will be voted in mid August. When questioned about Chinese companies participating in the bidding process due to security concerns, Minister of Communications #FabioFaria said it's telecommunication companies that will bid, not equipment makers, meaning they will be the ones to answer for using equipment that fails to comply with privacy regulations. This means #Huawei and/or other Chinese companies will very likely operate in Brazil in large scale. He said that the 5G network used by essential governmental agencies and institutions will be isolated from other 5G networks. Brazil is part of a group of countries who signed an agreement with the US in order to better protect their gov't'l communication network systems from #China. The 5G technology is expected to be working in some cities by the end of this year and in all 27 states by July next year.
- President #Bolsonaro was supposed to have had a meeting with the presidents of the other powers, #SupremeCourt (#STF), #Congress, and #Senate, to discuss power interference so that no one crosses the constitutional line. The STF has been criticizing the way Bolsonaro addresses them, and he criticizes the STF's explicit political activism. The presidents of Congress and Senate avoid explicitly taking sides, but since Bolsonaro's criticism is about words and the STF's activism is about rulings, their “neutrality” only favors the STF.
- A lawyer called #PauloFaria requested the General Attorney's Office that #SupremeCourt (#STF) Justice #AlexandredeMoraes be arrested for in flagrante offense under the charge of ongoing psychological torture against Congressman #DanielSilveira since February, the only kind of offense a Justice-Minister can be immediatly arrested by a different power. If you are not familiar with his case, Silveira was arrested by Justice De Moraes after he posted a video harshly criticizing the #SupremeCourt. When Silveira was arrested, his bail was set to 100,000 reals. He didn't have the money, but supporters and friends quickly raised his bail. When De Moraes learned the money had been raised, he ordered the bank account where the money was to be closed and his bail could no longer be paid. Silveira has never been judged, which means the closed account, the impossibility of his bail being paid, and his continued arrest are being considered a (psychological) torture provoked by Justice De Moraes. For as long as Silveira is not judged, the bail is supposed to be acceptable, but De Moraes changed the accusation to non-bailable based on the argument that his video being online (it doesn't matter where) is proof of an ongoing in flagrante and thus he can't be freed. De Moraes ordered that the president of the Association of Brazilian Lawyers/Attorneys opened a disciplinary process against Faria. Another crime De Moraes allegedly committed was putting Silveira in prison right from the start, which could not have happened until #Congress had voted for punishing him. Another alleged crime was the fact that De Moraes could not have him arrested without a warranty from the Public Prosecutors' Office.
- Demonstrators gathered in #Brasilia last Friday in support for lifting the ban on possessing and carrying guns. The event was called 'Second #ProGunsforFreedomAct' ('Segundo #AtoProArmaspelaLiberdade'). Among other politicians, Congressman #EduardoBolsonaro was present. The attendance was good.
- “THE FRAUD IS AT THE #TSE (#ElectoralSupremeCourt), JUST SO IT'S CLEAR. THIS HAPPENED IN 2014. WE [CONGRESSPEOPLE] WERE ALLOWED TO SEE THE STATISTICS MINUTE BY MINUTE. OBVIOUSLY, YOU [THE PEOPLE] DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS [TO THAT]. DURING THE SECOND ROUND, #AECIONEVES WAS UP THERE AND #DILMAROUSSEFF [WAS] WAY BEHIND. AS TIME PASSED, THEY STARTED TO GET CLOSER UNTIL THEY HIT EACH OTHER. [AT THIS MOMENT, WHEN THEY HIT EACH OTHER] WE HAD 271 MINUTE-BY-MINUTE OF UPDATES SAYING 'DILMA AHEAD,' 'AÉCIO AHEAD,' 'DILMA AHEAD,' 'AECIO AHEAD.' IT WAS LIKE FLIPPING A COIN AND GETTING HEADS THIS TIME AND TAILS THE NEXT ONE EVERY SINGLE TIME FOR 271 FLIPPINGS. [...] THE POLLING COMPANIES, ALSO FRAUDULENT, [IS] SHOWING THE NINE FINGERS [#LULA] AHEAD [IN A SIMULATION]. WHAT FOR? SO THAT HE CAN BE CONFIRMED BY A FRAUD BY THE TSE. [...] IF WE WANT ONE MORE WAY TO GIVE TRANSPARENCY [BY ADOPTING THE PAPER TRAIL], WHY IS JUSTICE #LUISBARROSO AGAINST IT? A #SUPREMECOURT JUSTICE; THIS IS A SHAME! THIS IS NOT ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE DEFENDS THE #ABORTION, THE FACT THAT HE WANTS TO LOWER THE AGE OF SEX CONSENT TO 12 YEARS OLD. A MAN WHO WANTS TO DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS, WHO DEFENDED THE ITALIAN MURDERER #CESAREBATTISTI. THIS IS THE MAN WHO'S IN CHARGE OF THE ELECTIONS. A GUY LIKE HIM SHOULD BE AT HOME OR SOMEWHERE ELSE. IF [FULLY] ELECTRONIC ELECTIONS ARE SAFE, WHY DON'T #JAPAN OR #SOUTHKOREA DO THE SAME? WHY DOESN'T THE WORLD DO THE SAME? IS IT BECAUSE WE ARE THE BEST IN TECHNOLOGY? IT'S OBVIOUS THEY WANT TO PUT BACK IN POWER THE SAME CRIME GANG OF ALWAYS.” President #Bolsonaro speaking to supporters on his daily stop between home and the #PlanaltoPalace last Monday.
- During his weekly live, President #Bolsonaro showed a piece of news where it says that #SupremeCourt [#STF] Justice #RosaWeber asked for the disclosure of the phone communication of a medication company's lawyer due to a committee investigation on the #Covaxin vaccine purchase. If you want to know more about this case, it's today's first story. Bolsonaro criticized the fact the order for a disclosure happened in a matter of days into the investigation, while the disclosure of the phone communication of the lawyer of #AdelioBispo, the guy who stabbed the president in 2018 during his campaign, has still not been asked for. Adélio was poor, but immediately after the stabbing, an expensive law firm sent a team of lawyers for his defense on a private jet, with one of them giving an infamous interview, where he speaks in a jokingly manner and even sends a kiss. #stabbing
- A judge in #RiodeJaneiro, #RicardoCyfer, accepted a request from an #LGBT group called #ArcoIrisdaCidadaniaLGBT and ordered that the #CBF ('Brazilian Soccer Confederation) explained within two days or face an 800-real daily fine the reason why there's no shirt with the number 24. This number in Brazil is associated with homosexualism. There is this illegal-since-1947 game called #JogodoBicho (#AnimalGame) where a 'veado' (deer) is number 24, and a deer is associated with homosexualism. The office room number 24 of the #Senate was never occupied for years, and they decided to skip this number, just so you have an idea how this culture is old and spread across the country. There was some backlash and the number came back. #RodrigoPacheco, current president of the Senate, accepted to occupy the room 24. The CBF doesn't use this number because the jokes, the mockery, and the laughs can take a toll on a player's psychological state and thus their performance, it doesn't matter how much they avoid taking it personally and how much they believe most fans are just joking. The teasing is simply too great not to drive one's focus away. Some people suggested that if the CBF seems itself forced to add 24 against their will, they could adopt a conservative approach to numering their shirts, a simple sequence starting from 1. Since there are two teams and 11 players each, they'd never need a 24.
- President #Bolsonaro's statement on the committee on the mismanagement of funds during the #pandemic #CPIdaCOVID (#COVIDProbe), “THEY CAN'T HIT US. IT WON'T BE THROUGH LIES OR THROUGH A COMMITTEE COMPOSED BY SEVEN THIEVES THAT WILL REMOVE US FROM HERE. WE HAVE A MISSION AHEAD OF US, [WHICH IS] TO CONDUCT THE NATION'S DESTINY AND ZEAL FOR THE WELLBEING AND PROGRESS OF OUR PEOPLE. WE STILL LIVE HARD TIMES, AND I HAVE TOLD EVERYONE THAT A NATION'S GREATEST ASSET IS THEIR FREEDOM. [FREEDOM IS] MORE VALUABLE THAN OUR OWN LIFE, BECAUSE WITHOUT THE FORMER, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THE LATTER. I ONLY HAVE PEACE AND TRANQUILITY BECAUSE I KNOW THAT NOT ONLY DO I HAVE THE PEOPLE [ON MY SIDE], BUT ALSO THE #ARMEDFORCES COMMITTED WITH DEMOCRACY AND WITH OUR FREEDOM. REST ASSURED WE HAVE A MISSION AHEAD OF US AND WE WILL ACCOMPLISH IT IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY.”
- The tax revenue in May was the highest in 27 years and 70% higher compared to May of last year. Since the beginning of 2021, the increase is 21.42% compared to the same period of 2020. When it comes to #jobs, 280 thousand were created in May, and more than 1 million since January. #employment #bolsonaro
- Congressman #DanielSilveira, arrested by order of #SupremeCourt [#STF] Justice #AlexandredeMoraes (with the authorization of the #Congress) for recording a video harshly criticizing the justices, paid a 100-thousand-real bail. His party suspended him for two months. He could appeal the suspension, but decided not to. #censorship
- One #SupremeCourt [#STF] justice is going to retire this month, allowing President #Bolsonaro to appoint a new one, but senators from the opposition (and even some allies) are planning not to confirm his next pick until the end of the 2022 election, so that, in case he loses, a different president wouldn't be stuck with an appointed of his. Their excuse will be that they have other priorities to debate in the #Senate. The name Bolsonaro should be picking is #AndreMendonca, who was Minister of Justice from May 2020 to March 2021 and State General Attorney from January 2019 to April 2020, and again since April of 2021. Mendonça has so far proved to be a solid ally and to be able to shield himself from being pushed around and abused by the fake news media and the opposition, and this, along with the fact that he is a Christian and is widely endorsed by most of the Christian community leaders, is terrifying them.
- The presidents of 11 parties (#AVANTE, #CIDADANIA, #DEM, #MDB, #PL, #PP, #PSD, #PSDB, #PSL, #REPUBLICANOS, and #SOLIDARIEDADE) made a commitment during a video meeting to vote against the trail paper for the voting machines. This number of parties accounts for a majority needed to vote against it. The #ElectoralSupremeCourt (#TSE) even announced they already started the process of purchasing the voting machines for 2022 without the paper trail system, even before the vote, showing how confident the TSE is that the bill for the paper trail will be rejected, but this is also a way to increase the pressure on congresspeople to vote against it, since the purchase would have already been made by the time of the vote, meaning approving the paper trail would mean the money paid was wasted. In other words, the paper trail for 2022 is now out of question. #SupremeCourt [#STF] Justice #AlexandredeMoreas confined to four congressmen during a dinner last Monday that he thought they'd better make sure this issue didn't reach the STF in order to avoid further relationship deterioration between the institution and the executive power. The technology used in the current voting machines dates back to the 90's, and the fight against the voting machines without the paper trail dates back to the early 80's, when politician #LeonelBrizola won a lawsuit against an electronic vote in #RiodeJaneiro where he was able to prove there was fraud, with the company behind the voting machines recognizing it. He campaigned against voting machines until his death in 2004. This last Wednesday, De Moraes and another STF justice, #GilmarMendes, had a meeting with the leaders some those parties. Among the topics they discussed there were killing the paper trail bill early on in order to avoid it from getting to the #Senate or even the STF itself, and allowing 1000 voting machines to be audited before the elections instead of the usual 500. Bolsonaro expressed frustration during this weekly livestream on social media. He said he predicts the next election is going to be a mess, he won't allow that to happen, and urged the justices and the parties' presidents to rethink. TBB thinks Bolsonaro fails to act. Supreme Court justices interfering in politics like this seems unconstitutional, and this is just another unconstitutional act. We don't trying to convert them is the best course of action. #elections2022 #votingmachines #electronicvoting
- “BARROSO, IT IS A LIE THAT THERE WILL BE [VOTING ON] PAPER BALLOT. YOU KNOW THAT. A JUSTICE OF THE #SUPREMECOURT [#STF] IS NOT SUPPOSED TO LIE. SO LET'S TELL THE TRUTH, DAMN IT!” President #Bolsonaro commenting on #SupremeCourt's [#STF] Justice #LuisBarroso activism against the paper trail by lying when saying the change is to go back to paper voting only. #elections2022 #votingmachine #electronicvoting #paperballot
- President #Bolsonaro attended another motorcycle rally last weekend, this time in the city of #Chapeco, #SantaCatarina, and the attendance, again, was high. More than 10 thousand motorcycles.
- President #Bolsonaro found himself again in the middle of another nothing-burger scandal in the last week. He's accused of letting gov't officials to accept bribery during the purchase of the Indian vaccine #Covaxin, made by #BharatBiotech. This bribery was denounced by Congressman #LuisMiranda. He gave interviews showing an invoice where the amount for the purchase of the vaccine was much above what has been paid to other makers. It had 300,000 doses for the total amount of 45,000,000 reals, or 150 reals each dose (about 29 dollars). Comparatively, the #SputnikV, #Coronavac, #Pfizer, #Janssen, and #AstraZeneca/#Oxford, cost 13, 11, 10, 10, and 3.16 dollars respectively. Miranda's brother is Chief of Importation of the Logistics Department of the Ministry of Health, and he was allegedly pressed to overlook and to sign the invoice. Miranda was summoned to speak at the committee on mismanagement of funds during the #pandemic, called #CPIdaCOVID (#COVIDProbe). On this day, Miranda showed up wearing body armor and holding a Bible. During his hearing, no other name was mentioned besides his brother's, #RicardoMiranda (which we will refer to by his first name to avoid confusion). After the hearing, Miranda left the building without the body armor and without the Bible. Soon, he had to appear again now accompanied by his brother so that the latter could give the name of the person who pressured him to overlook and authorize the invoice. Not only did Ricardo gave no names, but he also made revelations that implicated his brother. He didn't authorize the invoice, it was corrected three days later, and the purchase of Covaxin was never made. One senator asked Ricardo if he had informed his brother about the correction and he said, “THE [VACCINE] COMPANY AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE [DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY], YES [, I INFORMED THEM], BUT I DIDN'T INFORM MY BROTHER.” Another senator said that, by not letting his brother know that the invoice had been corrected, he led him to make a calumnious accusation. Ricardo responded, “I DON'T ANSWER FOR HIM.” Another senator asked him, “WERE YOU PRESSED TO ACCEPT THE [IRREGULAR] INVOICE?” Ricardo, “NO.” Senator, “DID ANYONE OFFER ANY ADVANTAGE OF ANY SORTS FOR YOU TO IGNORE POLICIES OR LOOSEN REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR THE IMPORTATION OF THE COVAXIN VACCINE?” Ricardo, “NO. THE ONLY DEMAND WAS THAT THE DOCUMENTATION SENT BY THE COMPANY HAD TO RECEIVE ALL THE PROTOCOLS BY #ANVISA [the Brazilian health regulatory agency].” Then, another senator, #OmarAziz, asked, “ARE YOU [Miranda] SAYING THE PRESIDENT KNOWS WHO WAS THE PERSON BEHIND THIS [PRESSURE FOR BRIBERY]?” Miranda, “YES.” Aziz, “WHO IS THE PERSON?” Miranda, “I DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE CONGRESSPERSON, THE NAME WAS LOOSELY MENTIONED IN A CONVERSATION.” Aziz, “IF WE GAVE YOU SOME NAMES, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO REMEMBER?” Miranda, “I DON'T REMEMBER, SIR.” Senator #RenanCalheiros asked Ricardo, “[DID] #PRECISAMEDICAMENTOS [Covaxin's representant in Brazil] TRY TO PUSH FOR THE PAYMENT [OF THAT AMOUNT FOR THAT QUANTITY] FOR THE COVAXIN?” Ricardo, “NO, NO.” Ricardo still tried to save Miranda's skin by saying that a colleague of his told him someone from the government asked for a bribe, but this friend never told him who this gov't person is and Ricardo didn't say who his colleague is so that the committee could summon him to get the gov't person's name. In a disclosed private conversation between Miranda and Bolsonaro on March 20th, where he tells the president about the invoice, Miranda says, “THE GOVERNMENT SPEAKS WITH MUCH TRANQUILITY—AND WHEN I SAY GOV'T I MEAN ONYX [#LORENZONI, President Bolsonaro's Chief of Staff]—THAT THE DOCUMENT WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED. IT WAS QUICKLY CORRECTED AFTER SEEING THE PRESIDENT.” In other words, Miranda was part of plan to try to get Bolsonaro accused of knowing about the invoice mistake, so that there could be grounds for an impeachment process, but the invoice was corrected 3 days later for the amount of 3,000,000 dollars, which then made the price per dose correct and the same as in 13 other countries, but still above all the other makers' vaccines; 15 dollars; and the purchase was never made. The plan to frame Bolsonaro was so bad that they didn't practice what his brother had to say during his hearing, and it did the opposite effect, botching the plan and making a fool out of Miranda. Precisa Medicamentos released a statement saying the negotiation process (which, again, was not approved) was entirely legal. The fake scandal was exposed, but Miranda still said there's something much bigger than [the scandal] that he can reveal, but many believe he's trying to drive the focus away from the mess he put himself into. 27 senators, though, still signed a resquest for the investigation on this nothing-burger scandal to extend for 90 more days, and they also want the #SupremeCourt (#STF) to get involved. All this noise about a documentation illegality that never happened for a purchase that never happened either. In February, Senator Aziz proposed a bill that would allow for states to be able to buy vaccines without a bid and ANVISA's approval of efficacy, and Miranda, during a radio interview not long ago, June 7th, said the #COVID Probe was all a farce, it was highly politicized, all about a political plan to take Bolsonaro down before 2022. Later this last week, while the two leaders of the committee had another person being heard, Miranda showed up out of nowhere and spoke to the ear of each of them both in front of everybody, which made some senators laugh in astonishment. Miranda was not even dressed properly and the security still let him be in the area and having access to the presidents, and the presidents didn't react badly, didn't reprimand Miranda, but rather listened patiently to what he was saying. He and Calheiros even shook hands.