President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday (15) that Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça leaked parts of the Master case investigation as it suited his own interests and called for the files to be opened in full. Lula spoke to broadcaster Record hours after the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), Brazil's top court, met to decide whether to open an investigation into Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
According to Folha de S.Paulo, Lula was answering questions about the session held earlier in the day. A Federal Police report identified Moraes as an interlocutor of Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro, who is jailed in the inquiry. Mendonça, who reports the case at the court and was nominated to it by former president Jair Bolsonaro, lifted the confidentiality of the messages between the two men.
"What André Mendonça kept as a state secret, releasing only what interested him, can now be opened so all of society knows who was involved. [To know] why [Dias] Toffoli did not vote, why Kássio [Nunes Marques] did not vote, who took part in Vorcaro's scheme. Because Vorcaro is a criminal ring that moved many people across several levels of the judiciary and the political class."
The two justices named by Lula stepped aside from the trial. Dias Toffoli declared himself unable to sit for personal reasons of conscience ("foro íntimo"), and Kássio Nunes Marques said he was barred because he chairs the Superior Electoral Court in an election year. Folha reports that the names of both men and of family members had already surfaced in the Master inquiry. Nunes Marques denied wrongdoing: "My son never provided any service to the bank and was never paid by the bank," he said, according to G1.
Lula also demanded a full accounting inside the court. "We have reached a defining moment in the history of this country. There is no one who can escape judgment when there is suspicion or accusation against him," he said. "The Supreme Court must be an example and must not contribute to society's distrust." On the court's president, Edson Fachin, Lula said: "Fachin now has the knife and the cheese in hand to open everything and find out who did what in the Supreme Court. And whoever did something must be punished, judged."
What happens next
Tuesday's session ended without a ruling. Justice Flávio Dino requested a review period, and the trial was suspended at a partial tally of 4 to 3 for keeping the cases of Moraes and Mendonça separate, according to InfoMoney. The case involving Mendonça is scheduled for September 23. The review period can last up to 90 days. When the justices resume, they must settle that procedural question before deciding whether Moraes will face an investigation.