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Brazil sentences Bolsonaro: What it means for democracy and US-Brazil relations
Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for plotting to overturn the 2022 election and allegedly conspiring to assassinate President Lula. In this week's "ask ian," Ian Bremmer says the verdict highlights how “your response… has nothing to do with rule of law. It has everything to do with tribal political affiliation.”
While amnesty for junior coup plotters is likely, Bolsonaro himself appears headed for jail, unless his allies return to power. Meanwhile, US sanctions and tariffs have fueled backlash inside Brazil. As Ian puts it, “Brazil is doing everything they can to hedge away from the United States.”
President-elect Donald Trump appears remotely for a sentencing hearing in front of New York State Judge Juan Merchan in his hush money case at New York Criminal Court in New York City, on Jan. 10, 2025.
Trump avoids jail in hush money sentencing
Trump appeared virtually from Florida for the sentencing, maintaining his innocence and calling the case a “political witch hunt.”
Which case was this one again? It centered on payments made to Daniels to prevent her from discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump before the 2016 election. Trump denies any encounter occurred and claims the payments were legitimate legal expenses.
Why was he given a no-punishment verdict? Judge Merchan explained that the immunity protections Trump will have once he becomes president in 10 days “is a factor that overrides all others,” though he emphasized that these protections “do not erase a jury verdict.”
Notably, this was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial. The other cases, including federal prosecutions by special counsel Jack Smith and a Georgia election interference case, have either been closed or stalled following Trump's election victory.