Trump media company sues a Brazilian Supreme Court justice investigating Bolsonaro

President Donald Trump, right, sits alongside Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., March 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

MIAMI — U.S. President Donald Trump’s media company sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday, accusing him of violating U.S. free speech protections when he imposed a ban on a right-wing supporter of the country’s former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The lawsuit in Tampa federal court was filed just hours after Bolsonaro was charged in Brazil for participating in a would-be coup aimed at allowing him to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The plot, prosecutors allege, included a plan to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the main judicial foe of the former president.

The lawsuit in the U.S. was brought by Sarasota, Florida-based Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social media platform preferred by the president to communicate with his followers. It was joined as a plaintiff by Rumble, a video-sharing platform that partners with Truth Social and fashions itself a safe harbor for free expression.

In their 39-page complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Moraes overstepped his legal authority and international law by seeking to shut down the U.S.-based accounts of a right-wing Brazilian commentator who is seeking asylum in the U.S. The blogger is identified in the complaint only as “Political Dissident A.”

“Justice Moraes cannot dictate the contours of lawful discourse within the United States,” plaintiffs' attorneys from New York-based Boies Schiller said in the complaint. “The United States has long upheld free speech as a cornerstone of its constitutional framework, enshrined in the First Amendment, and has consistently opposed censorship.”

According to the complaint, Rumble said it faced a fine of $9,000 a day and a shutdown of its service in Brazil if it doesn’t abide by Moraes' order. The Trump media organization, although not the apparent target of Moraes' gag order, said Truth Social’s operations would be impacted should Rumble be taken offline.

Moraes has emerged as Brazil’s chief legal powerbroker and would-be defender of the country’s democracy following the far- right Bolsonaro’s shock election in 2018.

What started as a judicial examination of fake news and threats to the high court has since evolved into a sprawling investigation into Bolsonaro himself on allegations of corruption and attempts to destabilize the country by testing the boundaries of free expression. In the run-up to the 2022 election, Bolsonaro used his sizable social media presence to raise unfounded doubts about Brazil’s electronic voting system.

Unlike the U.S., where the First Amendment is an almost sacred text taught in every elementary school, Brazil’s Constitution, drafted in the aftermath of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, is more unwieldy and offers fewer protections for freedom of speech.

Under Moraes' orders, police in 2020 raided the homes and froze the social media accounts of several far-right supporters and YouTube supporters of Bolsonaro.

Lawmakers loyal to the former army captain have pushed for Moraes' impeachment and even some critics of Bolsonaro have questioned the justice’s aggressive tactics.

Article written by Joshua Goodman, The Associated Press