Brazilian President Bolsonaro rocked by release of expletive-laced video

Brazilians were shocked on Friday after a Supreme Court judge released a video at the centre of an investigation targeting the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro. 

The expletive-laced meeting between President Jair Bolsonaro and his cabinet on April 22 is under scrutiny by prosecutors probing allegations by former justice minister Sergio Moro that Bolsonaro tried to interfere in federal police investigations.

But it could prove just as damaging to Bolsonaro's 18-month-old government for other sordid details it contains, the report added.

The video includes the president using profanity to insult governors, the education minister calling to throw Supreme Court justices in jail and the environment minister urging the government to legalize mining and farming in the Amazon rainforest while the world is distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The video came to light when Moro resigned two days after the meeting.

In a damaging final press conference, the then-justice minister, a popular anti-corruption crusader, accused Bolsonaro of "political interference" in the federal police.

Police are reportedly investigating multiple cases involving Bolsonaro and his inner circle, including allegations that his son Carlos, a Rio de Janeiro city councilor, oversaw a fake-news campaign to benefit his father.

(With inputs from AFP)