Most Brazilians think the justices of the Supreme Federal Court, the STF, Brazil's highest court, hold too much power. A Datafolha poll released on Saturday (12) found 76% agree with that view, while 18% disagree. The survey, commissioned by the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo and broadcaster Globo, heard 2,002 people aged 16 and older in 125 cities between September 8 and 10, in the middle of the crisis between Justices Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça.
In the same questionnaire, 71% said the court is essential to protect democracy in Brazil, and 21% disagreed. On trust, 77% agreed that "people believe less in the STF now than in the past", against 16% who disagreed. The margin of error is two percentage points either way, with a 95% confidence level, G1 reported. The poll is registered with Brazil's electoral court as BR-01833/2026.
The crisis behind the numbers
Fieldwork ran as the court faced what Folha called its most complex moment in 135 years of the Republic. On September 1, Mendonça, the rapporteur for the Banco Master case, released a Federal Police report containing messages from former banker Daniel Vorcaro to a contact investigators attribute to Moraes. According to the newspaper, the file includes a 131 million reais contract between Vorcaro and the law firm of Moraes' wife. The Prosecutor General's Office asked the court to void the report, and the full bench will decide the next steps.
On September 3, Moraes cited internal Federal Police reports to argue there were signs of wrongdoing by Mendonça, including administrative improbity and crime of responsibility. G1 reported that those documents carried caveats saying they had no probative value. Court President Edson Fachin removed Moraes as rapporteur of the fake news inquiry. On September 8, Mendonça suspended Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues and intelligence director Leandro Almada. Justice Flávio Dino ordered both reinstated the next day, and Fachin suspended the conflicting decisions, leaving Andrei in office. In a filing sent to Fachin on Friday (11), Andrei denied the force had monitored Mendonça and said the reports were produced regularly by its intelligence division.
Folha reported the new results are close to those from April, when Datafolha asked the same questions, suggesting the crisis has not yet shifted public opinion. The next step comes on Tuesday (15). Fachin called an extraordinary plenary session to discuss the Federal Police report on Vorcaro's messages to Moraes and the direction of the case, and ordered the full release of Banco Master documents under Mendonça's rapporteurship before the session.