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Bolsonaro Repeats Debunked Sexual Comments about Journalist

Associated Press

   RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro repeated a
   debunked sexually charged allegation about one of the country's more
   prominent journalists on Tuesday, drawing fire from press freedom
   advocates and even some recent allies.

   Bolsonaro referred to Patricia Campos Mello, a reporter for newspaper
   Folha de S. Paulo who last year won the International Press Freedom
   Award after coverage of his presidential campaign. She'd also been
   honored for earlier reporting from the Middle East, U.S. and Africa.

   A witness in a congressional hearing testified she had insinuated an
   offer of sex in exchange for help with a story that triggered an
   investigation of Bolsonaro's campaign by Brazil's top electoral court.
   Her newspaper quickly debunked the assertion by releasing transcripts,
   screenshots and recordings of their conversations.

   Still, Bolsonaro echoed the insinuation as he spoke outside the
   presidential residence in Brasilia.

   "He talked about the journalist's harassment, hitting on him. She
   wanted a scoop, she wanted to give a scoop, at any price, against me,''
   Bolsonaro said with a smile, using a Portuguese word for "scoop'' that
   can have sexual connotations. That drew laughs from his supporters.

   Hours later Bolsonaro spoke to journalists again at the same spot. "Is
   there anyone from Folha there? So I sexually attacked your reporter?
   OK. I don't want to talk to you,'' he said before walking away.

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