President Lula has ordered the head of Brazil's Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, to reach out to Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça to ease the tension between the police force and the Court. The order was reported on Thursday (27) by G1 and Correio Braziliense, with behind-the-scenes details uncovered by CartaCapital.
The dispute began in July, when the Federal Police asked the Attorney General's Office (AGU), the federal government's legal arm, to open proceedings against Mendonça over alleged "interference" in the force's work on the investigation into fraud at the INSS, Brazil's social security agency. The justice is the rapporteur at the Supreme Court of the case involving Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, the president's son. He ordered all investigation files sent immediately to his office and demanded prior notice of any removal of members of the police team.
The measures angered investigators, who see the decision as an intrusion into the force's autonomy. According to agents close to the case interviewed by CartaCapital, the standard procedure is for the police to conduct the inquiry, submit it to the Federal Prosecutor's Office for a legality review after completion, and only then forward it to the rapporteur at the Supreme Court.
AGU mediation
The mediation fell to Attorney General Jorge Messias. After a meeting between Mendonça and Justice Minister Wellington César Lima e Silva, brokered by Messias, the two sides agreed that the justice's office and the police teams would meet to improve their workflow. According to sources at the AGU and in Mendonça's office, those meetings have already begun. Aides to the rapporteur play down the friction and call the dispute an "isolated problem".
CartaCapital reports that Messias does not intend to take the case to the Supreme Court. The head of the AGU argues that a formal complaint against Mendonça, over a possible overreach of his duties as a judge, could open the door for defense lawyers to challenge the validity of evidence, including in other cases under the justice's rapporteurship, such as the Banco Master investigation. Correio Braziliense notes that Mendonça holds key decisions over investigative steps in both the Banco Master and INSS probes.
The next step comes later on Thursday. Supreme Court Chief Justice Edson Fachin meets Messias in the afternoon. The agenda was not disclosed, but the expectation is that the friction between the Federal Police and Mendonça's office will be on the table. No date has been announced for the meeting between Andrei Rodrigues and the justice ordered by Lula.