Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) asked the court's president, Luiz Edson Fachin, on Friday (11) to immediately lift all secrecy from the Banco Master case files. In a formal letter to the presidency of the court, Moraes described as "selective" the partial release of documents made the previous day by the case's rapporteur, Justice André Mendonça.
According to Moraes, Mendonça released only 15 case files, in partial form, and left out 180 documents and digital records. Moraes attached a table comparing what was made available with what is registered in the court's electronic system: of 4,514 items on record for the 15 files, 4,334 became accessible. The largest gap is in Inquiry 5026, where 61 of 1,086 pieces remain sealed. Moraes also asked the court's information technology directorate to certify the exact number of procedures tied to the investigation.
"By partially complying with Your Excellency's decision, Minister André Mendonça, directly interested in the judgment of both PETs 16,704 and 16,662, subjectively selected the lifting of secrecy, making public only what he deemed convenient," Moraes wrote, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
Three formal requests
In the letter, Moraes made three requests to Fachin: a joint trial of petitions 16,662 and 16,704; a total and unrestricted lifting of secrecy; and the summons of every justice named in the records, so they can give clarifications. Petition 16,662 covers messages exchanged between Daniel Vorcaro, the owner of Banco Master, and Moraes himself. Petition 16,704 gathers Federal Police intelligence reports alleging a breach of impartiality by Mendonça in his handling of the operations "Sem Desconto" and "Compliance Zero", including claims that he steered investigations toward targets such as Moraes and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre. According to G1, Moraes noted that Fachin himself had acknowledged a link between the two petitions, to avoid contradictory rulings.
Mendonça unsealed part of the case on Thursday (10), at Fachin's request. The order covered petition 15,556, the root of the investigation, and the procedures derived from it. Fachin reserved one exception, for material related to investigative steps whose secrecy is "essential" to the case. BBC News Brasil reported that 14 procedures were published in addition to the main one. Left under seal were fronts such as the inquiry into Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) and the financing of "Dark Horse", a biopic of former president Jair Bolsonaro that placed conversations between Vorcaro and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) under Federal Police scrutiny.
What comes next
The review of Moraes's situation is scheduled for Tuesday (15), at a plenary session convened by Fachin that, according to BBC News Brasil, could lead to the opening of an investigation against the justice. Fachin has yet to define the trial procedure. The dispute between the two justices became public on September 1, when Mendonça released a Federal Police report with signs that Vorcaro had sought advice from Moraes. Two days later, Moraes released reports on Mendonça's conduct. On Wednesday (9), Fachin removed Moraes as rapporteur of the Fake News inquiry and scheduled the September 15 session.