Pardons for Sale in Brasília
In December 2023, Brazil’s Supreme Court suspended a $2 billion corruption fine against JBS’s parent company, J&F Investimentos. Not through trial. Not through public hearing. Through a secret, single-justice decision by Dias Toffoli—the same judge who later voided evidence from the Odebrecht plea deal and targeted Transparency International for criticizing him.
The watchdog that helped expose JBS’s bribery was now being criminally investigated…
While the butcher boys walked free.
“The steak that never reached the people’s plate is still being served at the king’s table,” said Beef Initiative’s Texas Slim.
JBS had already admitted to paying $284 million in U.S. and Brazilian bribes to finance its takeover of American meat infrastructure using state-controlled Brazilian banks.
Now, it was getting pardoned—and subsidized.
From January 2024 to May 2025, JBS failed to pay R$8.52 billion in federal taxes—more than 68% of its net profit. The money vanished, while Lula’s government pushed through Provisional Measure 1,232—clearing the way for JBS-owned Âmbar to take over Amazonas Energia and shift the burden of Brazil’s energy chaos onto everyday consumers.
Bribes, Bailouts, and a $5M Political Cover Charge
Fast forward to 2025. Pilgrim’s Pride—JBS’s U.S. subsidiary—quietly drops $5 million into the Trump-Vance Inaugural Fund.
That’s more than Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Google combined.
Then the dominos fall:
- SEC greenlights JBS to list on the NYSE—after years of resistance
- DOJ suspends enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)—the same law JBS violated in 2020
- USDA waives worker safety reporting for poultry and pork processors—benefiting Pilgrim’s Pride directly
Meanwhile, JBS and Pilgrim’s are still:
- Under multiple DOJ investigations for price fixing, wage collusion, and grower underpayment
- Named as a co-conspirator in the DOJ’s Agri Stats antitrust lawsuit
- Settling $83.5 million in beef price-fixing charges just this February
You’re Not Buying Beef. You’re Buying a Lie.
Americans think they’re winning with tariffs.
Brazilian beef is “banned,” the labels say “Product of USA,” and Washington gets to posture like it’s protecting the homeland.
But behind the curtain?
- JBS owns the slaughterhouses on both sides of the border.
- Their cartel-linked cattle still flow in—just with new paperwork.
- They raise prices on U.S. shelves while cashing in on fewer imports.
- And they still receive U.S. subsidies, USDA contracts, and now a public listing.
Confess. Get pardoned. Go public.
It’s not justice. It’s the new meat monopoly model.
Opt-Out of Global Beef with Ebersole Cattle Co. in Southern Iowa!
Solution?
Start here:
- Delist JBS from the NYSE.
- Ban foreign ownership of U.S. food infrastructure.
- Demand mandatory country—and rancher—of origin labeling.
- Buy direct. Ask where it came from. Don’t trust the barcode.
The cartel didn’t infiltrate the beef supply.
It became the supply.
And the only antidote is knowing your rancher—before the next bribe gets rubber-stamped.
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