Lawmaker Claims He Was Asked to Join Bolsonaro Camp's Effort to Overturn Brazilian Election

The legislator who reportedly set up the meeting was taken into police custody on Thursday.

A senator in Brazil has claimed he was asked to participate in an alleged plot by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to overturn the results of last November's presidential election.

Senator Marcos do Val said Thursday that when he sat down with Bolsonaro at the urging of former lawmaker Daniel Silveira in December, he was asked to pressure the head of the electoral court into incriminating himself in a conversation meant to be recorded.

That judge, Alexandre de Moraes, is at the center of the political drama that has dominated Brazilian politics in recent weeks, following the January 8 riots which saw the Capitol seized by protesters during what Brazil’s new president denounced as an attempted coup.

In remarks given to a Brazilian outlet, Val expressed remorse for participating in the meeting, which he labeled a “bizarre, immoral and even criminal action,” and said he’s considering resigning.

According to Val, instructions were given by Silveira while Bolsonaro “sat in silence” during the meeting.

Moraes has ordered Val to give sworn testimony on the incident to police within the next five days.

Accusing Silveira of “complete disrespect and mockery” of the courts, Moraes issued a warrant for the former legislator’s arrest on Thursday, and he was reportedly taken into custody without incident.

Bolsonaro would likely be facing criminal prosecution as well, but he left Brazil just two days before his successor's inauguration, and has been living in a suburb of Orlando, Florida ever since.

It was reported Thursday that Bolsonaro submitted an application to remain in the US on a six-month tourist visa.