A BRAZILIAN magazine has released a recording of a senator claiming that then president Jair Bolsonaro looked for help in a plot to annul the October presidential elections and keep himself in power.

In the recording, released on Thursday, Senator Marcos do Val tells the magazine Veja that the idea was discussed when he met with Mr Bolsonaro and lawmaker Daniel Silveira on December 9 at the presidential residence, three weeks before left-wing Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva was set to take office.

Mr do Val, who was an ally of Mr Bolsonaro’s during his four-year term, said the far-right leader gave him the “mission” of recording Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court justice who also heads Brazil’s electoral authority, while trying to get the judge to admit he overstepped his powers under the constitution.

“I annul the election, Lula isn’t sworn in, I stay in the presidency and arrest Alexandre de Moraes because of his comments,” Mr do Val quotes the former president as saying.

Veja released the audio after the senator dismissed the magazine’s report on Thursday morning about the purported plot, which had not cited him as its source.

Mr do Val told reporters after the magazine published its story that the plot had been Mr Silveira’s idea and that the former president hadn’t said a word during the meeting.

Mr Bolsonaro, who has been keeping a low profile in Florida since December 30, did not comment on the matter on any of his social media channels. He recently applied for a six-month tourist visa to stay in the United States.

Suspicions of a coup plot increased after police searching the home of Mr Bolsonaro’s former justice minister found a draft decree that would have seized control of the electoral authority and potentially overturned the election.

Lula said in an interview: “Now I am aware, and I will say it loud and clear: That man prepared the coup. They wanted to make that mess on January 1, but they noticed they could not because there were too many police, too many people on the street,” Lula told the TV network RedeTV!

Mr do Val told both Veja magazine and journalists later on Thursday that he informed Mr de Moraes of what was discussed at the meeting with Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Silveira, and that he declined to participate in the alleged plot.