Donor Network Co-Founded by JD Vance, Meta Named in Brazil Election Interference Probe Over Flávio Bolsonaro

A donor network co-founded by US Vice President JD Vance is at the centre of a Brazilian police inquiry into whether foreign money, paid influencers, and tech platforms were used to boost Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential bid. The order also targets Meta's algorithms.

Supreme Court Justice Flávio Dino signed it on Tuesday 27 October, two days after Bolsonaro lost the runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by 51.79 per cent to 48.21 per cent. By Wednesday, Bolsonaro was in Miami after missing a separate court deadline to surrender his passports.

Dino acted on complaints from Lula's Workers' Party (PT) and Renan Santos, a right-wing candidate eliminated in the first round. His order makes no finding of wrongdoing, and those named deny the allegations.

What the Supreme Court Ordered

Federal Police must establish what Rockbridge Network representatives discussed with businessmen Tallis Gomes and Pedro Sang, and whether money, staff, or services reached the campaign. They must also trace who paid foreign accounts to promote Bolsonaro, check whether the talks were tied to Brazil's rare earths, and examine any deliberate manipulation of algorithms.

Dino wrote in Portuguese that the events taken together point to 'intensifying signs of foreign interference in the electoral process.' Brazilian law bars candidates from receiving foreign donations, directly or indirectly. The inquiry will run under Supreme Court supervision because unnamed members of Congress may be involved.

How Rockbridge Network Reached Brazil

Vance co-founded Rockbridge in 2019 with investor Chris Buskirk but is not named in Dino's order. In September, Folha de S.Paulo reported that the network had begun setting up in Brazil, citing documents offering memberships at $500,000 (about £376,000) and $1 million (about £751,000) a year. A business plan obtained by The Intercept Brasil named Sang as head of the Brazilian operation.

Gomes, the founder of Easy Taxi, said on a podcast in April that he belonged to Rockbridge and that Bolsonaro had asked him for policy proposals. Six people close to the campaign told Folha that Sang frequented its São Paulo headquarters.

Sang was introduced to Rockbridge by André Marinho, a Rio de Janeiro governor candidate and son of Bolsonaro's Senate alternate, Paulo Marinho. André Marinho wrote a memo on a US-Brazil rare earths partnership, which he now calls a hypothetical exercise.

Gomes says he has no management role in Rockbridge and has never raised, offered, or brokered political money. Sang denies working officially for the campaign, which says it received no foreign money.

Rockbridge told The Washington Post that its Brazilian company never received funds or operated, and that the Brazilians 'made false representations about their relationship with Rockbridge.' Vance's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Sun.

Meta, Polymarket, and Paid Posts in Focus

Lula's campaign had accused Meta of throttling the president's posts and letting its AI tool create images for Bolsonaro but not Lula. An electoral court ordered equal treatment on 15 October, and the full court upheld it the next day.

Dino's ruling cites internal Meta messages, obtained by Folha, in which staff acknowledged restrictions on Lula's Instagram account. Lula's campaign estimated that a near 24-hour block on boosting posts on 9 October kept its adverts from 1.3 million people. Meta denies favouring any candidate and blames technical limitations.

Police must also identify who paid foreign accounts to post Bolsonaro's Polymarket odds under a 'paid partnership' label. A complaint by Santos's Missão party, quoted in the ruling, alleged that Polymarket paid for the posts. Polymarket, blocked in Brazil since April 2026, did not address the claim when asked by the legal news site Jota.

The ruling also quotes The Intercept Brasil's report that the campaign paid 600,000 reais (about $112,000 or £84,000) to Elytron. The outlet said the cybersecurity firm had pitched a covert AI operation in the US that included fake social media accounts. Elytron called its work preventive, and the outlet found no evidence the system was used.

Bolsonaro Lands in Miami

On Monday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes gave Bolsonaro 24 hours to surrender his passports after police flagged a flight risk in a money-laundering investigation linked to betting companies. Bolsonaro, who denies wrongdoing, said he would comply and called the order 'a clear attempt to intimidate me.'

He left Brazil after the deadline passed, travelling through Argentina and Ecuador with his wife and two daughters, according to Argentina's migration authority. The State Department said the family would receive visas, and President Donald Trump called them 'fine people'.

Bolsonaro now says he will lead the opposition from the US and calls himself the 'true president-elect'. Dino's order sets no deadline for the inquiry.