BRASILIA, Brazil, Aug 21, (AP): Brazil’s federal police said messages found on the telephone of former President Jair Bolsonaro showed he once wanted to flee to Argentina and request political asylum, according to documents seen Wednesday by The Associated Press. Bolsonaro is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling about an alleged coup attempt and learned Wednesday he might face another case as police formally accused him and one of his sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, of obstruction of justice in connection with his trial.

The 170-page report said Bolsonaro had drafted a request for political asylum from Argentine President Javier Milei’s government dated Feb 10, 2024. He saved the document two days after authorities searched his home and office as part of the alleged coup plot investigation. Close to that date, Bolsonaro admittedly spent two nights at the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, fueling speculation he may have been attempting to avoid arrest.

The Argentina plot is part of the wider police accusation of obstruction of justice, in which Bolsonaro has allegedly ignored precautionary measures established for his house arrest and spread content to his allies "to directly hit Brazilian democratic institutions, notably the Supreme Court and even Brazil’s Congress,” according to the report.

The AP reviewed the police evidence, which included messaging app exchanges and voice messages, after police forwarded the documents to Brazil’s Supreme Court. Bolsonaro would face another trial if the attorney-general decides to charge him. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees the case, gave Bolsonaro’s lawyers 48 hours to explain why the former president sought political asylum in Argentina and failed to comply with other precautionary measures of his house arrest, such as avoiding contact with people outside his family circle.

In a 33-page letter addressed to Milei, Bolsonaro claimed he was being politically persecuted in Brazil. Both are staunch supporters of US President Donald Trump, who has recently repeated some of the former president's claims in his decision to impose 50% tariffs on Brazilian exports. "I, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, request political asylum from Your Excellency in the Republic of Argentina, under an urgent regime, as I find myself in a situation of political persecution in Brazil and fear for my life,” the former Brazilian leader wrote. Bolsonaro had his passport seized by Brazil's Supreme Court in on Feb 8, 2024.