Judge Moraes seeks investigation against colleague who linked him to banker arrested for fraud in Brazil
Alexandre de Moraes formally filed a request against André Mendonça at the Federal Supreme Court after the release of compromising messages. President Fachin removed the case from the fake news inquiry.
Supreme Court Crisis: Moraes prosecutes colleague who disclosed link to banker
Judge Alexandre de Moraes formally requested on Thursday the opening of an investigation against fellow Federal Supreme Court (STF) judge André Mendonça, according to Correio da Manhã. The request comes two days after the release of messages linking Moraes to banker Daniel Vorcaro, arrested for corruption, fraud and bribery of authorities, whose wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, was the principal defence lawyer.
This marks the first request by an STF judge against a court colleague. The petition was directed to the court's president, Edson Fachin, who must now deliberate on the dispute between the two judges of Brazil's highest judicial authority.
Accusations of abuse of authority
In the petition, Moraes accuses Mendonça of usurping exclusive competencies of the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the Federal Police (PF) by requesting the investigations and proceedings that resulted in the report later released. He also invokes abuse of authority and administrative misconduct, arguing that only the STF president has the prerogative to order an investigation into a judge of the court.
Moraes's decision is considered in political and legal circles as retaliation against Mendonça for exposing him publicly. Curiously, the petition is based on PF reports requested by Moraes himself, placing him in a position comparable to that of the colleague he accuses of abuse of power.
The judge presented the request within the scope of the "Fake News" inquiry, which he has commanded since 2019 and refuses to close. Through this process, Moraes has already investigated, convicted and imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro and dozens of high-ranking military officers, politicians and hundreds of citizens accused of attacks on democracy.
Fachin removes the case from the fake news inquiry
On Friday morning, STF president Edson Fachin removed Moraes's request to prosecute Mendonça from the scope of the fake news inquiry, transferring the cases to the Court Presidency.
In the same decision, Fachin determined that both the Attorney General's Office and minister André Mendonça submit written statements within five days on Moraes's request. The same deadline was imposed on Attorney General Paulo Gonet and Federal Police Director-General Andrei Passos Rodrigues, whose names also appear in the conversations released on Tuesday.
The measure is interpreted as an attempt by Fachin to buy time and reduce internal tension in the court, a stance typically associated with him.
Crisis extends to Congress
The scandal has already spread beyond the STF and reached Congress. The opposition to President Lula da Silva has called for the impeachment and even imprisonment of Alexandre de Moraes, as well as the removal of the Attorney General, measures that analysts consider difficult to achieve.
Lula's allied base, in turn, demands that secrecy be lifted from investigations into the film "Dark Horse", which portrays Jair Bolsonaro's trajectory. The production is under suspicion of overcharging and corruption that may involve Flávio Bolsonaro, the former ruler's son and the current president's main adversary in the October presidential election.
The crisis in the STF has deepened with the revelation of messages placing Moraes in direct contact with banker Daniel Vorcaro, identified by the PF as the principal person responsible for the largest financial fraud scheme ever discovered in Brazil.
Source: Correio da Manhã