Jason Miller, Senior Adviser to the Trump 2020 re-election campaign, appears for the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate, at the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 9, 2021.
Jason Miller, Senior Adviser to the Trump 2020 re-election campaign, appears for the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate, at the Capitol in Washington, on Feb. 9, 2021.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
  • Jason Miller said he was detained and questioned at the Brasilia airport for 3 hours on Tuesday.
  • The Trump ally was trying to leave the country after promoting his app Gettr at CPAC Brasil.
  • The country's supreme court was investigating him for "anti-democratic acts," Metropoles reported.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

Jason Miller – a former Trump campaign official and the CEO of right-wing Twitter alternative Gettr – says he was "questioned for three hours" by Brazilian authorities as he tried to leave the country on Tuesday.

"This afternoon my traveling party was questioned for three hours at the airport in Brasilia, after having attended this weekend's CPAC Brasil Conference," Miller said in a statement.

Miller, who was a senior advisor to former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign and has been a reliable pro-Trump voice on cable news, was in the South American capital to attend CPAC Brasil, a conference American conservatives held to promote their ideology and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Gettr, which Miller launched two months ago as a conservative alternative to Twitter, is listed as one of the sponsors of CPAC Brasil.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Brazilian outlet Metropoles reported that Miller had been detained by federal police at Brasília International Airport as part of a Brazilian Supreme Court investigation into "anti-democratic acts." Metropoles also reported that Miller was largely silent during his detention before eventually being released and boarding a private jet back to the US.

In his statement, Miller seemingly disputed that he was investigated for anti-democratic acts.

"We were not accused of any wrongdoing, and told only they 'wanted to talk.' We informed them that we had nothing to say and were eventually released to fly back to the United States," he wrote. "Our goal of sharing free speech around the world continues."

Bolsonaro is currently embroiled in a feud with the country's high court, with many of his allies being detained and questioned under the same investigation that may have ensnared Miller.

Matthew Tyrmand, a conservative activist who was apparently travelling with Miller, wrote on Twitter that he was sitting on the tarmac at the airport as Miller was being "interrogated by Supreme Court anti-Bolsonaristas." He also shared photos of Miller meeting with Bolsonaro and his son, Eduardo.

Matt Schlapp, chair of the American Conservative Union and a central CPAC organizer, wrote on Twitter that "the whole world will be watching to make sure that no renegade arm of the Judiciary in Brazil breaches the travel or speech rights of those who traveled to Brazil to rally for Freedom with our friends and allies."

Meanwhile, Eduardo Bolsonaro shared images of the CPAC event:

The event comes on Brazil's Independence Day, as Bolsonaro urges his supporters to rally on his behalf. There are signs that Bolsonaro may follow Trump's lead by pushing baseless claims of mass voter fraud in next year's presidential elections, which polls show he is likely to lose.

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