Brazilian presidential candidate Fernando Haddad of the socialist Workers’ Party (PT) said in an interview Monday that “probably, yes” there were political allies of his who illegally used campaign funds while in office, once again forced to discuss allegations of widespread corruption within the PT.

With five days to go before Brazilians cast their definitive votes for the presidency, Haddad found himself defending the allegations tied to a widespread corruption scheme known as “Operation Car Wash,” in which a variety of political parties under PT presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff profited by accepting bribes from contracting firms in exchange for overpriced government contracts. Lula is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for buying a luxury beachfront property with the illicit money.

Haddad’s first public act following his securing a position in the October 28 run-off election was to visit Lula in prison for advice on how to run his campaign. He is trailing the conservative candidate, Social Liberal Party (PSL) candidate Jair Bolsonaro, by double digits in the latest polls.

In an interview with the television program Roda Viva on Monday, Haddad responded to questions about the widespread corruption allegations hitting the PT, as well as most of Brazil’s largest parties.

“Was there crime? In my opinion, probably, yes,” Haddad responded, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo. He specifically stated affirmatively that he believed some politicians illegally diverted campaign funds to their private accounts.

Haddad insisted, however, that “so long as there is an appeal, the person should not be judged” for the crime alleged, a reference to the PT leadership’s insistence that Lula da Silva is innocent and was denied sufficient judicial appeal (his case went through the entire Brazilian judicial system, up to the Supreme Federal Tribunal).

Haddad went on to add:

Certainly there were people who used illegal campaign finances to get rich. There are two crimes: cash financing and [personal] enrichment, which is the more grave one. I accept that there were people who took advantage of this to get rich. I am in favor of exemplary punishment for these people.

Haddad also claimed to have publicly criticized his own party for its involvement in the Operation Car Wash scheme, particularly in how many used the state-run oil company Petrobras to further the kickback scheme. He did not answer directly whether he would pardon Lula or not, however, instead insisting that “what President Lula wants is a fair trial.”

Haddad spent much of the rest of the interview attacking the presidential frontrunner, accusing Bolsonaro of “worship[ing] torture” and presenting a threat to Brazilian free society.

“Everyone who struggled for democracy knows the risks that Brazil is running,” Haddad said. “Bolsonaro does not have democratic culture, hundreds of videos prove that.” Haddad took particular issue with anti-communist comments Bolsonaro made in the past, promising to supporters that he would “sweep the reds” and warning socialists who insist on breaking the law, “either they leave [the country] or they go to jail.”

Haddad claimed the remarks were a threat to him and other socialists to choose “prison or exile.”

Brazil endured a military junta controlling the government for much of the second half of the 20th century after generals overthrew leftist President Joao Goulart in 1964. The military cracked down heavily on leftist activity in the country, shutting down civil society groups demanding Marxist policies and targeting socialists guerrilla fighters for arrest and torture. Bolsonaro has focused his campaign on shutting down the PT-led corruption in the government but has done little to ease concerns from the left that he, an army captain, denounces the military regime. Instead, he notably lamented that “the dictatorship’s mistake was to torture but not kill” in a 2016 interview and promised to empower Brazil’s police and military.

Brazilians’ outrage over Operation Car Wash, the lavish expenditures for the Summer Olympics and FIFA World Cup under the PT, and general disappointment in lack of economic opportunity have led to a significant increase in the levels of trust in military officials, doubling the number of veterans in the legislature in the October 7 elections.

Haddad is currently attempting to recover from comments on Brazil’s military that, according to the newspaper Estadao, left active servicemembers and veterans feeling disrespected and outraged. In attacking Bolsonaro, Haddad remarked that, in his opinion, “Venezuela has a superior military structure than Brazil” and threats against their socialist government on the part of Bolsonaro and his supporters were unfounded.

“For Brazil to declare war and send young Brazilians to die on the border with Venezuela or ask for help from an international empire, probably the Americans … that conflict is now ours,” Haddad declared.

The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has decimated its military, most recently exemplified by troops fleeing an explosion at an event in Caracas later revealed to be a drone attack on dictator Nicolás Maduro. The regime regularly bribes soldiers with toilet paper to keep them from mutinying and has still failed to keep military leaders from meeting with White House officials to discuss a coup.

Among the remarks from soldiers present for Haddad’s remarks compiled by Estadao – anonymous, as these were active servicemembers – were the words “offended,” “disrespected,” and “belittled.”

Bolsonaro has, in the meantime, limited his public events as he continues to recover from an assassination attempt in September. Folha de Sao Paulo reports that Bolsonaro is planning a visit to the presidential palace in Brasilia, Planalto, to discuss a transition with current President Michel Temer next week following the election. Temer is reportedly planning to urge Bolsonaro to continue with labor reforms that his administration began and hand Bolsonaro a booklet summarizing the key information Temer believes he will need to take the country’s reins.

A poll by the firm MDA published Monday found Bolsonaro with 57-percent support among Brazilian voters. Haddad received 43 percent of those votes, while the rest were mostly blank (Brazil has compulsory voting, so voters must cast a blank ballot if they do not prefer either candidate). Other polls released last week fall within the margins of error of the MDA poll.

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