Brazilian court clashes over probe of judge

ELECTION OVERSHADOWED: Judge Alexandre de Moraes accused fellow judge Andre Mendonca of being in the service of a group that sought to stage a coup

The Brazilian Supreme Court engaged in a heated, hours-long debate on Tuesday over how to handle a potential probe into one of its top judges, in an unprecedented public showdown that has eclipsed a presidential election campaign.

The court’s 10 justices were convened by its president, Edson Fachin, to decide whether to open an investigation into Alexandre de Moraes, who has been accused of unsavory ties to a jailed banker involved in a major fraud case.

Fachin opened the session warning that “the country looks to this court. History, too, will look upon this moment.”

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes looks on during a session at the Brazilian Supreme Court in Brasilia on Tuesday.

Photo: Reuters

However, the six-hour hearing, broadcast live, laid bare divisions, with justices shouting and trading insults as they remained stuck on procedural issues and how to handle internal investigations.

The crisis facing the court is one of many erupting after the arrest last year of banker Daniel Vorcaro for alleged fraud, which unveiled a web of questionable ties that has ensnared judges, lawmakers and even Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, a presidential candidate and son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

It erupted two weeks ago, when Justice Andre Mendonca, who was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, unsealed a police report linked to the Vorcaro investigation.

It revealed messages sent by Vorcaro to a number attributed to Moraes, in which the banker sought the justice’s help in the fraud investigation against him.

Moraes is the bete noire of the Bolsonaro family and was briefly sanctioned by US President Donald Trump’s administration over a coup trial against Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence.

Moraes has slammed the move as a bid to frame him for “political and electoral purposes.”

During Tuesday’s session, Moraes accused his rival of being “in the service of a political group that sought to stage a coup d’etat.”

“Liar,” Mendonca said in reply.

In another clash, Gilmar Mendes — an ally of Moraes — provoked Mendonca, who shouted: “Show me some respect.”

One of the questions judges grappled with was whether to unite the case against Moraes with a case questioning whether Mendonca improperly used his powers to investigate Moraes.

However, the hearing ended in a deadlock, with Flavio Dino slamming a “degradation of the court’s image,” securing a postponement that could last until December.

Justice Carmen Lucia, the court’s only female member, expressed her “state of deep dismay and sadness.”

“I am somewhat ashamed that, with less than 20 days to the election, everything revolves around what is happening at the Supreme Court,” she said, asking “forgiveness from the Brazilian people.”

The crisis has dominated the campaign ahead of Oct. 4 elections, expected to be a knife-edge race between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Flavio Bolsonaro.

“No one should remain under a cloud of suspicion. It is important to investigate, and whoever made a mistake must pay the price,” Lula said in an interview on Tuesday.

Moraes has become a near-constant presence in Brazil’s headlines in the past few years, at the center of one major political or judicial battle after another.

“The current president shared his power with Alexandre de Moraes. And in the end, Brazil was left without any president,” Flavio Bolsonaro said in a video on Tuesday.

On Monday, the senator overtook Lula for the first time in an opinion poll of voting intentions by the firm Quaest, which showed him at 42 percent against 40 percent for Lula in a runoff.

On Friday, it was revealed that Flavio Bolsonaro is under investigation for suspected corruption and money laundering regarding the financing of a film about his father, bankrolled by Vorcaro.