Justice André Mendonça of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) lifted the secrecy on Friday night (11) from investigations into the film Dark Horse, a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro, and from other files in the Master case. The ruling covers presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro of the PL party, senators Jaques Wagner (PT) and Ciro Nogueira (PP), former Rio de Janeiro governor Cláudio Castro and Thiago Miranda, according to G1.
The order made 38 case files public, 18 of them from the Master case and 20 related ones. Added to those released a day earlier, they bring the total to 53 public proceedings. Folha de S.Paulo reports the files concern fraud attributed to former banker Daniel Vorcaro, who controlled Banco Master. They include inquiry 5.070, on the financing of Dark Horse, and inquiry 5.050, on Wagner's relationship with Vorcaro, according to BBC News Brasil.
The prosecutors' request
Mendonça acted on a request from the Prosecutor General's Office (PGR), which asked that every inquiry in the Master case be made public. Releasing only part of the files could create "an erroneous idea of transparency", the PGR argued. It said the justice's list omitted most proceedings from Operation Compliance Zero, the core of the investigation.
"I note, at the outset, that these cases bear no relation to the subject of the extraordinary session to be held next Tuesday. In any event, I find there is no impediment to lifting the corresponding secrecy."
Mendonça moved after court president Edson Fachin gave him 24 hours to release "without exception" the files tied to PET 15.556, the root of the Master investigation. On Thursday (10), the justice had made 15 petitions public, limited to exchanges between Vorcaro and Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
An open rift at the court
The partial release drew accusations from fellow justices. Moraes wrote to Fachin that Mendonça had made a "selective choice" and had kept out 180 documents, "making public only what he deemed convenient". Justice Cristiano Zanin asked for full access to the data from Vorcaro's phone. Mendonça replied that the original device is in Federal Police custody and that his office holds only a "sealed and untouched" copy. By Friday night the files were still not visible on the court's system. The STF press office told the BBC that the technical process takes time and that the system may become congested.
The next step is an extraordinary session on Tuesday (15), when the court will examine the exchanges between Vorcaro and Moraes. Moraes asked that this petition be judged together with the one alleging irregularities in Mendonça's conduct. The ruling lands in the middle of the campaign: Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, is running for president in October's election.