The president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), Edson Fachin, delivered the complete case file on Justice Alexandre de Moraes to the justices' chambers on Thursday (Sept. 10). The material arrives five days before an extraordinary session on Tuesday (Sept. 15), when the full bench will weigh the validity of a Federal Police report that pointed to a supposed relationship between Moraes and banker Daniel Vorcaro. The court's regular Thursday session was cancelled once again.
The file contains the Federal Police report with messages attributed to Vorcaro that refer to Moraes, at the center of an internal crisis that has gripped the court for weeks. Its seal was lifted by Justice André Mendonça, who oversees the investigations into the Banco Master case, which include Petition 15.556 and related proceedings. "In harmony with the request formulated by the eminent President, Minister Edson Fachin, I promote the lifting of the secrecy of the records of PET no. 15.556 and of the proceedings contained therein or related to them," Mendonça wrote in a ruling quoted by G1, Brazil's largest news portal.
The release lets the justices and their staff read the material before the vote. Fachin also suspended, until the full bench rules, the proceedings involving members of the court. The crisis escalated on Thursday, when Moraes asked for an investigation of Mendonça. Fachin set a deadline for both to respond. Attorney General Paulo Gonet and Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, both named in Vorcaro's messages, are also expected to give explanations.
Instead of holding the plenary, Fachin met with seven justices and Gonet through the day. According to reporting by the blog of journalist Andreia Sadi at G1, the court president spoke with Moraes, then with Dias Toffoli and then with Mendonça. He then heard Gonet, Cristiano Zanin, Luiz Fux and Kassio Nunes Marques. In the early evening, he met Justice Cármen Lúcia in her chambers.
At an event at the Planalto Palace, the seat of Brazil's presidency, Fachin said the court's response will be "firm and rigorous", though without "precipitation". The "gravity" of the facts, he said, does not "authorize shortcuts".
"Institutions must be preserved, above all in moments of greater tension. No authority is above the Constitution. No branch of government is above the law. No circumstantial interest can override the integrity of the democratic state of law."
Session format still undecided
The format of Tuesday's session remains open. According to Folha de S.Paulo, justices from different wings of the court fear that session videos will become campaign ammunition, through clips cut to go viral online. One member of the court called the session a potential "institutional carnage", the newspaper reported. A closed session has been considered, though Fachin leans toward keeping it public. The ruling comes less than a month before Brazil's presidential election in October.