Flávio Bolsonaro leaves Brazil for the US as the State Department grants him visas

SÃO PAULO, Brazil (Oct. 27) — Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's presidential runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, left Brazil for the United States on Tuesday in defiance of a judicial order to surrender his passports, The Washington Post reported, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. The BBC said sources confirmed the trip.

A senior State Department official said "the State Department will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States," according to AP. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing visa privacy laws, AP reported.

On Monday, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the senator to hand over his passports within 24 hours as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering, which Bolsonaro denies, the BBC reported. When the deadline passed on Tuesday without the documents being turned in, Brazilian police said they had cancelled them. Bolsonaro's lawyers told BBC Brasil they were "completely in the dark" about his whereabouts.

In a video posted Monday, Bolsonaro said he never intended to leave the country and planned to stay and lead the opposition to Lula, according to the BBC. He has not accepted the election result. The BBC reported that he has met his brother Eduardo in Florida, and that it remains unclear how he left Brazil or whether he plans to live in the United States.

Lula, remarking on his rival's whereabouts, said, "Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear," the BBC reported. Criminal law experts told BBC Brasil that Bolsonaro could be considered a fugitive only if an arrest warrant for preventive detention had been issued against him.