Justice Gilmar Mendes of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) attacked on Tuesday (15) the decision by fellow justice André Mendonça to remove Andrei Rodrigues, the director-general of the Federal Police. According to G1, Gilmar called the move a "disgrace" for the institution and said it should never have been adopted. He spoke during a full-court session examining the conduct of the investigation involving Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Gilmar compared the removal of the federal police chief to scenarios that, in his view, no manager would accept. His remarks, recorded by G1, went further.

"Any citizen with the slightest notion of what the Federal Police is, an armed body under a chain of command, would not remove a director-general of the police. It is like removing the president of NASA or taking away the commander of the Army."

Then he hardened the tone. "The man has to handcuff himself before doing this kind of thing. When he feels the temptation, he has to ask God to intercede and not do it," Gilmar said. He also said he had expected the removal to provoke a reaction inside the court, and that subjecting the force to such a situation is a "gravity I have never seen", according to G1.

The disputed removal

Mendonça ordered Rodrigues's removal during the inquiry into how the Federal Police produced a report on Moraes. The document recorded 52 messages between the justice and former banker Daniel Vorcaro, the central figure of the Banco Master case, according to G1. Mendonça argued that keeping the director-general in office could compromise the inquiry. Days later, Justice Flávio Dino suspended the effects of the decision and returned Rodrigues to command, on the grounds that the measure required more robust justification. Court President Edson Fachin then took the dispute to the full bench. Before Gilmar spoke, Fachin said the justices had issued diverging rulings and that the presidency could not "stand still".

Later in the session, Justice Luiz Fux defended the Second Chamber, one of the court's two smaller panels, which considered the Federal Police's conduct in the episode anomalous. "They set up an agency of their own dedicated to spying on Supreme Court justices," Fux said, according to G1.

What comes next

The court suspended the morning session and the justices return at 2 p.m. Brasilia time. According to BBC News Brasil, the judgment decides whether Moraes will face an investigation over his relationship with Vorcaro. It is the first time in the court's history that the STF meets to decide whether one of its own members should be investigated, G1 reported. Gilmar and Justice Flávio Dino filed a procedural motion to suspend the judgment and resume the analysis next Tuesday (23). The motion would join the cases of Moraes and Mendonça, redistribute the reporting duties and set a deadline for the Attorney General's Office to weigh in. Fachin said the return of the session will be devoted to the motion.