A Brazilian Supreme Court justice has ordered federal police to open an investigation into possible illegal foreign financing of defeated candidate Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign, including by a group linked to US Vice President JD Vance, according to a court filing published on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg via i3investor

Justice Flávio Dino directed police on 27 October to establish what representatives of the Rockbridge Network discussed with Brazilian businessmen Tallis Gomes and Pedro Sang, and whether any money, services, staff or other economically valuable benefits reached Bolsonaro's campaign, YacNews reported from the ruling in case ADPF 1178. The inquiry runs under Supreme Court supervision because, Dino wrote, members of Congress may be involved.

Source: YacNews

Brazilian law bars candidates from receiving, directly or indirectly, anything of monetary value of foreign origin, including advertising of any kind. Dino wrote that the ban covers any economically measurable advantage even where no money changes hands, and that the source of the resources decides whether a donation is foreign, whatever the nationality of the person who hands it over.

Source: YacNews

Polymarket posts, algorithms and rare earths

Police must also examine what Gomes and Sang discussed after paying foreign social media accounts to post Polymarket election odds favouring Bolsonaro, whether the talks were tied to foreign interest in Brazil's rare earths and critical minerals, and whether internet companies engaged in deliberate asymmetries or algorithmic manipulation, according to the ruling as reported by YacNews and Bloomberg. Dino also asked police to investigate election advertising linked to Polymarket and Meta Platforms.

Dino stressed that the order does not establish that illegal foreign financing occurred, but said the allegations levelled during Brazil's presidential race warrant an investigation, Bloomberg reported. He also asked police to examine whether intermediaries were used to conceal any foreign support.

Denials from Rockbridge and the campaign

Rockbridge denies involvement. The network has said that Brazilians made false statements about their relationship with it and produced documents in its name without its knowledge or consent, and that its Brazilian company never operated. Bolsonaro's office has said the campaign received no foreign money or structure, YacNews reported. Vance's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Meta referred to past statements denying it favoured a specific candidate, Bloomberg reported. These are allegations under investigation; no court has found any wrongdoing.

Bolsonaro lost Sunday's runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. On the day of Dino's order he left Brazil — a departure Awaaz Punjab has reported separately — after missing a deadline set by Justice Alexandre de Moraes to hand his passports to the Federal Police in a separate money-laundering inquiry. What happens next depends on what the Federal Police establish about the Rockbridge contacts and the paid Polymarket posts, and whether the court takes the case further.