A prominent Brazilian hacker testified under oath before a congressional investigative committee that in 2022 he was approached by then-President Jair Bolsonaro to hack and exploit the voting computer system. In August 2022, when Bolsonaro was still president, he had a long meeting with the far-right Bolsonaro. Hacker Walter Delgatti Neto said he made it clear to Bolsonaro that he could not hack a system that was not connected to the internet. According to the hacker, Bolsonaro wanted to use the hack to prove that the election results could not be trusted: On October 30, leftist candidate Lula da Silva was elected with 50.9% of the vote.
After explaining why the voting computer could not be hacked, Delgatti said the Bolsonaro camp wanted him to tamper with a borrowed voting computer to create the impression that it could be rigged. Delgatti, who is known in Brazil for exposing secret meetings of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, claimed that Bolsonaro, a former military officer, introduced him to the Defence Ministry, where they discussed possible vulnerabilities in the voting system. Bolsonaro was transferred from the presidential palace to the Ministry of Defence, which he entered through a back door; in June, Bolsonaro was found guilty of deliberately undermining confidence in the voting system and banned from running for office until 2030.
Delgatti has a criminal record for fraud and embezzlement. There is currently no evidence to support his claims. Perjury before an investigative committee is punishable by Brazilian law.