The president of Brazil's Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, sent a blunt message to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a presidential candidate, during a floor session on Wednesday night (Sept. 2). Defending Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Alcolumbre brought up a request for R$ 130 million to fund "Dark Horse", a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
According to G1, the remark carried two messages. Alcolumbre will block any attempt to impeach Moraes, currently the vice president of the court, known as STF, and he warned that the film funding request could resurface if the opposition keeps pushing the case of former Banco Master banker Daniel Vorcaro. As Senate president, Alcolumbre decides whether impeachment requests against Supreme Court justices are admitted for proceedings.
"I will get back on the agenda, because otherwise I will have to answer many attacks that, as Senate president, I have been receiving in recent days. Just one comment. At the right moment I will speak. Everyone has forgotten that R$ 130 million were requested from the same person to make a film. And now the only culprit is Justice Alexandre de Moraes," Alcolumbre said, in a translated quote.
Alcolumbre named no one. CartaCapital reports that the R$ 130 million request refers to financing for "Dark Horse" and to Vorcaro's ties to the production linked to the Bolsonaro family. Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign read the remark as a message aimed at the senator. An Alcolumbre interlocutor summed it up for G1: "the dirty one cannot talk about the badly washed".
Response on three fronts
Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign is discussing a response on three fronts, according to CartaCapital. The first is to increase pressure to open impeachment proceedings against Moraes. The second is to take the agenda to the campaigns of opposition candidates in October's Senate races, arguing that the chamber needs a new composition for such cases to move forward. The third targets Alcolumbre's succession as Senate president in 2027, with allies weighing whether to boost the pre-candidacies of Rogério Marinho or Tereza Cristina. The magazine reports that Alcolumbre received an informal signal of support from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to try to stay in the job next year.
Self-defense and calendar
Flávio Bolsonaro's allies also read the remark as self-defense, CartaCapital reports. Alcolumbre faces questions of his own in the Master Bank case over Amprev, the pension fund of public workers in his home state of Amapá. The fund was run by his ally Jocildo Silva Lemos and invested in Banco Master bonds. The senator denies any interference in the investments. G1 reports that pressure from a cross-party bloc favorable to Vorcaro in Congress blocked the Master Bank investigative committee in the first half of the year, and that for now the only route for investigation runs through the STF itself.
The next test of the standoff is the Sept. 7 rally on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, on Monday (Sept. 7). Bolsonaristas expect the impeachment of Supreme Court justices to be one of the main themes, according to CartaCapital. Senators heard by G1 say Alcolumbre's shielding of Moraes may strengthen opposition Senate candidates who argue the chamber must be renewed to start proceedings against justices in October's elections.