Brazil's Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça said on Friday (11) that he "could never make public" the entire set of proceedings in the Master case. In a filing sent to Chief Justice Edson Fachin, he denied leaving out cases when he lifted confidentiality and stated that "all effectively available documents have been duly made public". The response came a day after the Attorney General's Office (PGR), the federal prosecutors' office, and Justice Alexandre de Moraes accused him of selective disclosure.
The PGR asked Fachin on Friday to unseal more documents. In the request, signed by Deputy Attorney General Hindenburgo Chateaubriand Filho, prosecutors said the list sent by the rapporteur omitted most proceedings tied to the broader Federal Police investigation, Operation Compliance Zero, and that releasing only part of the files could "lead to a mistaken idea of transparency". According to UOL, the PGR counted 18 cases left out of the declassification. Attorney General Paulo Gonet will work the case alongside his deputy.
Moraes went further in his own letter to Fachin. He wrote that Mendonça, "directly interested in the judgment", "subjectively selected the lifting of confidentiality, making public only what he deemed convenient". He counted 180 documents and digital files excluded from the set released on Thursday (10), when the rapporteur unsealed 15 case files at Fachin's request. The Master case, an investigation into Banco Master and former banker Daniel Vorcaro, has been under Mendonça since February.
A point-by-point response
Mendonça answered the same day. On the 180 documents, he said the figure came from an improper comparison between the "documents made available" and the piece count in eDigital, the court's electronic case system. The numbers can diverge "for multiple reasons" without meaning a partial release, he wrote. He also defended the exceptions: Fachin's own order allowed keeping under seal any diligence in which confidentiality was indispensable, such as proceedings holding banking and tax data on individuals and companies.
"The totality of the proceedings contained in or related to PET 15.556 could never be made public."
PET 15.556 is the docket that gathers the Master proceedings at the court. According to the justice, all material relevant to the judgment set for Tuesday (15) has already been sent to the justices' chambers. On Friday night, he granted the PGR's request and unsealed 18 case files from the Master case, plus 21 more, as reported by news outlet G1. They include inquiries involving Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI), Cláudio Castro (PL-RJ), Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) and Thiago Miranda.
What comes next
The exchange of letters precedes Tuesday's (15) session, when the court is set to weigh petitions in the case. Moraes asked that two be judged together: one on messages he exchanged with Vorcaro and another on reports about Mendonça's conduct in investigations. Fachin granted the PGR's and Moraes's requests and gave Mendonça 24 hours to unseal all documents, provided the move does not harm ongoing police work. Justice Cristiano Zanin reiterated his request for access to media from Vorcaro's phone; Mendonça replied that the device is with the Federal Police and his office holds only a sealed copy, according to G1. The dispute has exposed open divisions among the justices, the PGR and the leadership of the Federal Police.