Rubio denies Trump officials had role in Bolsonaro flight from Brazil
State Secretary Marco Rubio denied reports the Trump administration was involved in the flight of presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro from Brazil.
State Secretary Marco Rubio denied reports the Trump administration was involved in the flight of presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro from Brazil. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI
Oct. 31 (UPI) -- State Secretary Marco Rubio on Saturday denied reports that the Trump administration had facilitated the flight of defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro from Brazil to the United States.
Bolsonaro lost a consequential runoff election to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday and, days later, fled the country.
Reporting in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal alleged Jason Miller, a White House communications aide, arranged the private jet that took Bolsonaro to Miami.
"We didn't facilitate anything," Rubio told reporters Saturday during the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta. "We were not involved in any of the arrangements he made in terms of leaving."
Rubio said Bolsonaro held a valid visa and President Donald Trump's only involvement was allowing Bolsonaro to enter the country.
"The president made clear that if he arrived in the United States at a port of entry, that he would be paroled into the country, and he was," Rubio told reporters.
Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday after leaving Brazil despite a court order barring him from traveling abroad.
The defeated candidate is under investigation on suspicion of money laundering and illegal foreign currency transactions. He had been ordered by Brazil's Supreme Federal Court to surrender his passports.
Bolsonaro and his family fled Brazil through a land border with Argentina, then entered Ecuador before flying to the United States.
He has refused to accept the election results, claiming without evidence they were fraudulent.
HIs father Jair Bolsonaro, who was president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022, also refused to concede his defeat to Lula in the previous election.
The elder Bolsonaro is now serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup.