The president of Brazil's Supreme Court (STF), Justice Edson Fachin, has pushed decisions in the two cases involving Justice Alexandre de Moraes, Justice André Mendonça and banker Daniel Vorcaro past September 22. According to Poder360, the deadlines set by Fachin leave the court's review just 12 days before the first round of Brazil's general election, scheduled for October 4.
How the deadlines work
In the case opened by Mendonça, the justice lifted the secrecy of the Banco Master investigation on Tuesday (September 1) and made public messages exchanged between Vorcaro, the bank's founder, and Moraes. According to G1, the exchanges suggest Moraes discussed with the then bank owner the possibility of a Federal Police operation that would target Vorcaro. Fachin gave Mendonça, Moraes, Prosecutor General Paulo Gonet and Federal Police director-general Andrei Rodrigues five business days, until Friday, September 11, to respond. The full bench can only take up the material from September 14 onward.
In the case brought by Moraes, who added Mendonça to the long-running fake news inquiry on Thursday (September 3), Fachin removed his colleague from the inquiry on Friday (September 4) and set two consecutive deadlines: five business days for Gonet to say whether the request is warranted, then five more business days for Mendonça to respond. According to Poder360, that case can only reach the full bench after September 22.
What the justices will weigh
According to G1, the Master case was overseen by Mendonça and now sits with Fachin, who asked the Prosecutor General's Office and the Federal Police for explanations. Gonet replied that he had opened an external oversight procedure on how the police report was produced.
"I inform Your Excellency that, as set out in the order I am forwarding, I have determined the opening of a Police Activity External Control Procedure, the result of which will be reported to the Court in due course," Gonet wrote.
The newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reports that the justices will discuss whether Mendonça used arbitrary methods in the Banco Master and INSS investigations that produced the report in which the Federal Police names Moraes as an interlocutor of Vorcaro. They will also weigh the legality of Moraes using the fake news inquiry to request an investigation of his colleague for abuse of authority, administrative improbity and crime of responsibility. Justice Cármen Lúcia sees errors on both sides and has not yet decided her vote, which is seen as decisive, the paper reports.
Fachin promised a "firm" response in a speech at the presidential palace on Friday (September 4), but has not yet sent the report to the full bench. It is not clear whether the two cases will be judged together or separately. If together, according to Poder360, the question of investigating Moraes would also wait until after September 22. Responses in the Master case are due on September 11. Scheduling the votes is then up to Fachin.