The full council of the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil in the Federal District (OAB/DF), the Brazilian bar association's chapter in Brasília, approved by majority vote an institutional position asking for the impeachment of Supreme Federal Court (STF) justices Alexandre de Moraes and Dias Toffoli on suspicion of crimes of responsibility. The decision came out of an extraordinary session that began on Tuesday night (Sept 8) and ended in the early hours of Wednesday (Sept 9). The requests now go to the OAB's national Federal Council, which meets on Wednesday afternoon with the presidents of the state chapters.

According to Correio Braziliense, the council approved seven measures. The main ones:

• filing impeachment proceedings against Moraes and Toffoli before the Senate, on suspicion of crimes of responsibility;
• a deep and transparent investigation into the involvement of any authorities in the facts under investigation, including members of the STF and of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), with precautionary suspension of those under investigation if necessary;
• an investigation of Moraes and Toffoli given the gravity of the conduct being examined by the Federal Police; according to Correio Braziliense, the same request covers Justice André Mendonça over the selective lifting of secrecy in the Banco Master inquiry;
• lifting secrecy on ongoing investigations that involve authorities, except for confidential precautionary proceedings;
• that STF President Edson Fachin take over investigations of people without privileged jurisdiction at the court and refer them to the competent judges;
• the dismissal of the court's so-called Fake News inquiry, with publication of the case files;
• an open letter to society on the measures and proposals for a reform of the judiciary.

How the crisis began

The requests come amid a crisis at the STF triggered by a Federal Police report on the cellphone of Banco Master founder Daniel Vorcaro. According to g1, the material reconstructed messages sent by Vorcaro to a number registered on the former banker's phone as "Alexandre de Moraes BRASILIA", with references to the justice's family, including discussion of two contracts with lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes, the justice's wife, and Vorcaro's statement that he had a "debt for life" to him. Justice André Mendonça, the case's rapporteur, lifted the secrecy on the material on September 1, starting a confrontation between justices that is still running. In April, data obtained by Folha de S.Paulo and reported by g1 indicated that Toffoli had flown on a plane of a company linked to Vorcaro. G1 notes that the Federal Police report reconstructs only the sender's side, with no record of what was received or replied. No justice has been indicted or convicted.

On Tuesday (Sept 8), OAB/DF president Paulo Maurício Siqueira, known as Poli, ordered the opening of disciplinary ethics proceedings against the partners of the firm Barci & Barci Advogados, which belongs to Moraes's wife, based on the Federal Police report from Operation Compliance Zero.

Reaction and next steps

In an official statement, the chapter said:

"The OAB/DF reaffirms that its decisions are guided exclusively by the defense of the Constitution, of legality and of harmony between the branches of government, with no political-party bias, and trusts that the competent bodies will examine the requests with the rigor and impartiality that the gravity of the moment demands."

According to CNN Brasil, the OAB/DF will also ask the Federal Council for a "deep, impartial and transparent" investigation into the involvement of any authority in the facts. The national OAB had already said it was following the crisis with "attention and extreme concern" and called for a rigorous investigation of anyone involved, with respect to due process and the presumption of innocence. The chapters of Paraná, Rondônia, Ceará and Santa Catarina asked for Moraes to be provisionally removed from the STF, while those of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Pará, Goiás, Pernambuco, Amazonas and Rio de Janeiro called for a rigorous, independent and transparent investigation.

The next step is the Federal Council meeting on Wednesday (Sept 9). STF President Edson Fachin had been expected to attend, but canceled his appearance amid the escalation of the crisis. If the Federal Council adopts the requests, the impeachment filings would go to the Senate, the body competent to try STF justices for crimes of responsibility.