Allies of Senator Flavio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) are distancing themselves from Deputy Mario Frias (PL-SP), target of a Federal Police operation on Thursday, and admit isolating him to contain electoral damage. The operation investigates irregularities in the use of parliamentary amendments destined for projects related to the production of the film "Dark Horse," about the life of former President Jair Bolsonaro. The PF points to Frias as part of the so-called "political core" of an organization suspected of embezzling public funds.
The willingness of allies not to publicly defend Frias did not emerge only with Thursday's operation, but had already been circulating since the first episodes involving the parliamentarian and resurfaced in other crises, such as suspicions related to an alleged "rachadinha" scheme in his office in the Chamber of Deputies.
The strategy of individualizing any potential problem involving Frias aims to prevent the case from contaminating Bolsonaro's campaign for the Presidency and Flavio himself, who is a candidate for the Senate from Rio de Janeiro. The logic among the ex-president's son and his circle is to separate the parliamentarian's case from the other Bolsonaro candidacies.
With the Federal Police operation gaining electoral weight less than 30 days from the first round, Bolsonaro's allies seek to protect themselves from the accusations against Frias without directly engaging in the parliamentarian's defense, who must now answer alone if irregularities in the use of parliamentary amendments are proven.
