The president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justice Edson Fachin, on Friday (Sept 4) removed from the court's fake news inquiry a request by Justice Alexandre de Moraes to open an investigation into fellow justice André Mendonça. The request will now be examined by the court's presidency and was joined, according to Folha de S.Paulo, to a case Fachin had opened over a Federal Police report on messages allegedly sent by former Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro to Moraes.
In the order, Fachin gave the Attorney General's Office (PGR, the federal prosecution service) five business days to file an opinion on the admissibility and regularity of the procedure Moraes adopted and, if it deems it pertinent, on the accusations against Mendonça, who oversees the Banco Master and INSS cases at the court. INSS is Brazil's federal pension system. After the PGR responds, Mendonça may formally reply within five days. According to G1, the two matters involving the justices are now handled by the court presidency.
"Considering the need for adequate instruction of the case in order to assess the admissibility and regularity of the procedure adopted by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, and, if applicable, the allegations set out in it, I order the completion of the instruction as follows", Fachin wrote, as reported by Folha.
Fachin also wrote that the measures "are intended exclusively for the instruction of the case, without anticipatory judgment on admissibility, the regularity of the procedure or the merits of the allegations". He will define the next steps, including whether the matters go to the court's full bench.
What Moraes alleges
On Thursday night, Moraes sent Fachin the request to investigate Mendonça. In the filing, he cited "strong evidence" of administrative improbity, abuse of authority, crime of responsibility and favoritism toward certain political groups in Mendonça's handling of the Master and INSS cases. According to G1, Moraes argues that his colleague took over police duties in directing the investigations, improperly handled negotiations over a possible plea deal and steered probes, for "personal and political reasons", toward targets including Moraes himself and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre. Moraes says the Federal Police report points to measures taken by Mendonça with "flagrant loss of impartiality". None of the allegations has been admitted or weighed by the court so far.
How the crisis reached the court presidency
The clash between the two justices grew on Tuesday (Sept 1), when Mendonça lifted the seal on a Federal Police report, produced at his order, exposing messages and contacts between Vorcaro and Moraes, and suggested the full bench review the material. Attorney General Paulo Gonet, named in the reports Mendonça released, called the investigation null because it was carried out without a request from prosecutors or from the police itself. Folha also reported that the PF document Moraes relied on is unsigned by any police delegate and carries a caveat that it must not be used to "support proceedings of any nature". Earlier in the week, Fachin had already given Moraes, Mendonça, Gonet and Federal Police director-general Andrei Rodrigues five business days to address the developments tied to the Master case.
The next step is the PGR opinion, due within five business days. Once the filings are in, Fachin will rule on admissibility and regularity before any review of the merits, and he will decide whether the matter goes to the full bench, as Moraes requested by citing the Constitution and the court's rules, under which a collegiate body must examine any common crime attributed to a judge.