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Twitter’s Brazilian assets be confiscated for failing to properly censor citizens’ tweets, is now, officially, in diplomatic terminology, a persona non-grata.

The dispute centers around former president Jair Bolsonaro, a key ally to our President during Trump 1.0. Bolsonaro lost what was expected to be a landslide victory in a very sketchy election featuring brand-new electronic voting machines (ahem), and then after “losing,” swiftly found himself subject to various banana-republic-style criminal prosecutions for election interference and —allegedly— attempting a coup.

If the music sounds familiar, be assured that everyone else paying attention caught the tune as well. Including President Trump, who last week demanded the Brazilians knock it off and unplug the political persecutions. The Brazilians refused. Then Judge de Moraes, who apparently loves poking marsupials, announced he would personally oversee Bolsonaro’s upcoming trial.

Yesterday, Trump announced 50% tariffs on most Brazilian goods.

Also yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett announced that the U.S. was imposing sanctions against de Moreas under the 2012 Magnitsky Act, an Obama-era law ironically passed as a weapon against Russian officials. ...

Secretary Bessett’s announcement explained:

“Alexandre de Moraes has taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against U.S. and Brazilian citizens and companies. De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro. Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens.”

The Magnitsky designation allows the Treasury Department to seize all US-based assets of the designated foreign individual. Turnabout is, as they say, fair play. It also revokes de Moraes’ visa. Don’t feel too much sympathy for the bald jurist. Even the Times couldn’t sugar-coat his record...

It’s easy to see what informed Trump’s views of “human rights abuses.” After spending years as the personal target of lawfare campaigns, media blacklists, and coordinated censorship in the name of “democracy,” Trump knows exactly what weaponized prosecution looks like. He’s lived it.

Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest for an alleged attempted coup meant to keep him in office after his 2022 electoral defeat.

President Donald Trump has responded by imposing a 50% tariff on the nation over its handling of Bolsonaro’s case, according to NPR.

Bolsonaro, also known as “Tropical Trump,” was put under restrictions on what he could say publicly after his defeat.

However, the 70-year-old allegedly used his three sons, who hold elected office, to amplify his message to the people, Brazil’s leftist Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes said in his decision Monday. ...

The former president allegedly said, “Good afternoon, Copacabana, good afternoon, my Brazil, a hug to everyone, this is for our freedom” through the cell phone of one of his sons during a protest in Rio de Janeiro.

Attorneys for Bolsonaro said that this message could not “be regarded as ignoring precautionary measures or as a criminal act.”

However, the radical activist judge disagreed.