BRASILIA Oct 4, 2026 – Brazil’s Federal Police opened a preliminary investigation on election day into alleged U.S. interference in the presidential contest, after the government’s legal arm asked for a probe into a reported State Department grant aimed at groups critical of the Supreme Court.
Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues said Sunday, October 4, that the force had already begun looking into the claims. He spoke in Brasília while Brazilians voted in the first round of the presidential election. The request came Thursday from the Attorney General of the Union (AGU), which filed a criminal complaint with both the Federal Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The complaint rests on a September 30 report in The Guardian. The paper said the Trump administration had earmarked $1 million from the State Department’s Human Rights and Democracy Fund for a program titled “Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil.” The money was described as support for civil-society groups opposing what the program calls judicial overreach and censorship by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF). The award is one of 43 grants totaling about $176.9 million from the same fund. The documents cited by The Guardian do not name any Brazilian recipient.
AGU chief Jorge Messias called foreign meddling intolerable and an alert for Brazilian sovereignty. In the filing, government lawyers argued the funds were intended to finance groups working to interfere in Brazil’s political and institutional debate and to undermine the judiciary, and they asked investigators to identify who received the money inside the country. They noted the proximity of the election and earlier episodes of external pressure on Brazilian institutions.
Rodrigues said the AGU representation was sent to the Federal Police Intelligence Directorate and that a preliminary procedure is under way. He added that the formal ordinance opening a full police inquiry has not yet been published, which is common before an inquiry is formally opened.
The announcement landed on the day of a tight race between incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Lula’s coalition and Workers’ Party had already pressed electoral and judicial authorities in September over possible foreign support for the Bolsonaro campaign, including claims involving U.S. conservative networks and paid social-media activity. Brazilian intelligence officials have also briefed European counterparts on alleged U.S. and Russian interference ahead of the vote, according to Reuters. The State Department has previously denied seeking to interfere in Brazil’s elections.
Separately, Rodrigues said police had found no concrete evidence of a plan to attack U.S. or other diplomatic missions. On Friday the Federal Police carried out two search warrants in São Paulo and near the Federal District after reports of possible threats; the U.S. and Australian embassies had suspended some public services that day.
The investigation remains at the preliminary stage. No charges have been filed, and no Brazilian recipients of the grant have been publicly identified.
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