A prominent Brazilian conservative who was a senior aide to former president Jair Bolsonaro has been imprisoned without trial in the South American country for four months, justified by what appears to have been an error on a U.S. government website.

Lawyers for Filipe Martins, who considers himself a political prisoner of the left-wing Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), say the court is using the error on the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) website as proof to imprison him. Martins was arrested on February 8 at the order of STF Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who is using records showing travel to the United States — and the lack of corresponding Brazilian immigration records — as evidence that Martins defrauded the immigration system by leaving the country undetected.

According to the incorrect CBP travel history records used to keep Martins imprisoned obtained by The Daily Wire, there was a log of Filipe entering the United States with inconsistencies. But representatives of Martins, who served as the special adviser for international affairs to Bolsonaro, say he never left his country on the day being alleged. There is evidence showing he made Uber and food purchases in Brazil, and also that he took a domestic flight. 

The prolonged imprisonment comes as the STF faces widespread criticism for overstepping its authority to punish opponents. He has not yet been given a trial and remains imprisoned on the grounds that there is a risk he would flee the country, despite the correction. His lawyers say the government is holding him for political reasons.

“It has been widely known that de Moraes has been fearing the growth of conservatives,”  Martins’ attorney, Ana Barbara Schaffert, told The Daily Wire. “This extended, unfounded imprisonment indicates that they are trying to torture him into confessing to anything that fits their narrative, because there is nothing legally that can detain him in jail.”

A correction was made to the CBP I-94 website last week after Martins’ defense team submitted additional documentation to officials to prove Martins did not travel to the United States on December 30, 2022, on a presidential flight with Bolsonaro before the inauguration of the next president, as is alleged. New I-94 records show that Martins’ last entry to the U.S. was in September 2022, when he accompanied Bolsonaro to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

An incorrect travel history was used by the Brazilian Supreme Court to show that Filipe Martins traveled to the U.S. on December 30, 2022. Martins’ lawyers and an updated document from CBP dispute he ever left the country on that date.

In a determination letter to Martins’ lawyers, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated it conducted a review of the situation and “made any corrections to records that our inquiries determined were necessary.”

The lawyers say the update should lead to Filipe’s release.

“We finally have an official document that can be used as a legal basis that Martins never entered the United States on December 30, 2022,” Schaffert said. “We hope de Moraes takes this into account and releases Filipe immediately.”

An updated document from the CBP shows Filipe Martins’ last entry to the U.S. was in September 2022, despite accusations from the STF.

Martins’ legal defense filed a petition for his release and is awaiting an official response.

De Moraes also used as evidence an outdated Microsoft Word file with a list of passengers for the December 30 presidential flight that had been updated numerous times, as well as a blog post speculating he “evaporated” from Brazil, according to Schaffert. 

“It was merely a draft of a supposed list, which would never be used as evidence for an arrest in any normal process,” Schaffert said.

Martins was a popular powerhouse in the Bolsonaro administration due to his youth, large social media following, and conservative and pro-American ideology. He was nicknamed the “Jared Kushner” of the Bolsonaro administration while in his previous diplomatic position, which led to a meeting with former President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Martins is also being investigated by the STF for allegedly contributing to a document questioning the 2022 Brazilian presidential election that led to the return of socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power after serving a jail term for corruption.

This investigation was not cited as the official reason for Martins’ jailing, according to his lawyers.

Bolsonaro, who was president from January 2019 to December 2022, has been under investigation by the STF for making accusations of voting fraud, and his involvement in orchestrating riots on government buildings in January 2022. He is currently barred from holding or running for office in Brazil until 2030 for casting doubt on its electronic voting system in a meeting with diplomats at the presidential palace, the New York Times reported. 

By using the power of his position, de Moraes has been on a mission to crack down on conservatives and free speech in the country. The New York Times accused de Moraes of using “a broad interpretation of the court’s powers” to “investigate and prosecute, as well as to silence on social media, anyone he deems a menace to Brazil’s institutions.” De Moraes also signaled to deputies that he fears conservatives will make gains in the Brazilian Congress in 2026, reported CNN Brazil.

Filipe Martins and his wife Anelise Hauagge. (Photo: Instagram)

De Moraes’ crusade led to a feud with billionaire Elon Musk after demanding the censorship and suspension of users on X accused of “fake news.”

“He demanded that X suspend accounts of people who raised corruption concerns while insisting that X pretend the suspension was for violating our terms of service!” Musk tweeted in April. “We obey the laws of countries even if we disagree with them, but this required violating the laws of Brazil.”

De Moraes opened a probe into Musk for “disobedience” and waging a “disinformation campaign” against the court.

“The flagrant conduct of obstruction of Brazilian justice, incitement of crime, the public threat of disobedience of court orders and future lack of cooperation from the platform are facts that disrespect the sovereignty of Brazil,” de Moraes said.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan demanded answers last month after reports emerged suggesting the FBI assisted in cracking down on critics and journalists.

“In Brazil, news outlets have recently reported that the FBI, on behalf of the Brazilian government, reached out to two U.S. residents, including a journalist targeted in some of the censorship orders by Brazilian courts,” said Jordan’s letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray.

The STF did not respond to a request for comment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the country’s War Cabinet on Monday, a  week after his longtime political rival, Benny Gantz, left the wartime unity government.

A spokesman for the prime minister told the press that there was “no more need for an extra branch of government.”

PM Netanyahu told the security cabinet last night that the war cabinet has been officially disbanded.

A PMO official tells me that since the war cabinet was part of Benny Gantz's demand to join the war coalition, it is no longer relevant since he left last week. >>

— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) June 17, 2024

The move comes more than 9 months after Hamas launched an invasion of Israeli territory on October 7th, which killed more than 1,200 people – mostly civilians. More than 240 more were taken hostage by terror group Hamas. More than 100 of those hostages have since been released or recovered, but according to the Israeli government as many as 116 are still in Hamas’s custody – including some who are presumed dead. 

Gantz, a former IDF general who served as the country’s defense minister from 2020-2022, has been one of Netanyahu’s chief electoral opponents for the better part of a decade, but his party joined Netanyahu’s coalition in a display of national solidarity after the October 7th attack. 

However, he and his allies have clashed with other members of Netanyahu’s government on how to best prosecute the war in ongoing war in Gaza – disputes over hostage negotiations, a potential ceasefire, the future of a post-war Gaza and the influence of more hardline elements of Netanyahu’s multi-party coalition had been lingering sources of tension months before the official split. He and Gadi Eisenkot, a former IDF Chief-of-Staff and a member of Gantz’s National Unity Party, left the cabinet on June 9.

Even after the defection of the National Unity Party, Netanyahu’s government retains a four-seat majority in the Knesset – the Israeli Parliament – although the loss of support limits his room to maneuver between the competing interests of his coalition which currently contains members from six parties.

Gantz is seen by many as the man most likely to replace Netanayhu as prime minister – although recent polls suggest that his party’s electoral edge is narrowing – and even met with top U.S. officials in March to discuss humanitarian efforts in Gaza and a potential end to the war. That visit was not authorized by the Israeli government and reportedly drew a harsh rebuke from Netanyahu, who, according to the Associated Press, told Gantz that Israel has “just one prime minister.”

The Israeli government has been under considerable pressure, both domestic and international, since the war began. Before the war began, Israel was sharply divided over judicial reforms championed by Netanyahu – support for his government declined considerably and thousands of left-wing activists took to the streets of Israel to protest the decision throughout much of 2023. Those protests were essentially put on pause after the start of the war, but the dissolution of the war cabinet could signal an end to the political ceasefire and a renewal of mass anti-government demonstrations.

On Netanyahu’s right flank, elements of his coalition have argued that the current government has not been aggressive enough, and have castigated Israel’s humanitarian pauses and provision of aid to Gaza as “delusional.”

“The manner in which the humanitarian effort in the Gaza Strip is being managed, in the framework of which aid goes largely to Hamas and helps it to retain civilian control of the Strip in direct contradiction to the goals of the war, has been bad throughout the last few months,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said. “This is one of the reasons for the continuation of the war.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who repeatedly clashed with Gantz and has long sought more influence over military matters, has already called for an escalation of the war effort in the north. 

Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group that controls much of southern Lebanon and has been intermittently firing missiles, and other artillery into northern Israel in support of Gaza.

“Israel is in an unacceptable situation, in which a big part of the country has been deserted,” Brigadier. General Efraim Sneh told the Washington Post. “Israel’s forces are stretched thin between Gaza and the Lebanese border.”

“Hundreds of rockets cannot be answered with surgical actions,” Ben-Gvir said last Wednesday, claiming that Netanyahi was “out of excuses” for avoiding all out war after Hezbollah fired 215 missiles into Israel. “You are the prime minister, and you cannot even hide behind Gantz and Eisenkot anymore.”

Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were part of the broader security cabinet but had been excluded from the higher level War Cabinet, to their consternation. Gantz was reportedly irritated by the influence they did have over policy and that was one of the major fissure points between him and Netanyahu. Going forward both men are likely to have more say in a smaller, more right-wing governing bloc.

Photo by Gallup

While a majority of Americans continue to support Israel, a growing number of Democrats, particularly younger Democrats, are more sympathetic to the Palestinian side, with some college protesters openly lionizing Hamas and celebrating the death of Israeli civilians. The war has become a major wedge issue on the American Left and President Biden has attempted to walk a political tightrope of supporting Israel while simultaneously constraining their war effort. 

Biden has openly voiced opposition to Israeli operations in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where more than a million refugees have fled since the war began, and Hamas’ last major stronghold. In March the president threatened to withhold military aid to Israel and he has continually pressured them to negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas’ leadership, even prematurely announcing a deal.

Other countries and international organizations have been even less supportive – last month Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognized the existence of a Palestinian state, while the International Criminal Court (which has no jurisdiction in Israel or the United States) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“I hope [Ireland’s recognition of their state] sends the Palestinian people a message of hope that — in this their darkest hour — Ireland stands with them,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said to members of Ireland’s parliament. “It is no longer enough just to condemn. It is no longer enough just to be repulsed. We must be on the right side of history.”

These decisions came shortly after the United Nations reduced its estimate of civilian casualties by nearly 50%. Previous data had been collected by the Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas and was accused of grossly inflating the death toll. By most historical standards, the civilian:combatant death ratio in Gaza is unusually low (between 2:1 and 1:1) despite the fact that Hamas deliberately hides its forces behind civilians.

On Monday the Israeli military told ABC that they currently control about 60% of Rafah, and that the main portion of their military operation there should wrap up within “a few weeks.”

“We are there to dismantle the military framework of the [Hamas’] Rafah Brigade,”  Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the IDF, told the outlet. “We are weeks now just from achieving this goal.”