Senate President Davi Alcolumbre has told colleagues in Congress that he may allow impeachment proceedings against two justices of Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF), the country's top court. According to a report by Ana Flor in G1, Alcolumbre would authorize a case against Alexandre de Moraes and also against André Mendonça if pressure to target Moraes alone becomes impossible to resist.
The signal, according to G1, cooled tempers in the Senate over recent days. The plan gained weight after Moraes, on Thursday night (Sept. 3), asked court President Edson Fachin to open an investigation of Mendonça. In the filing, made within the so-called fake news inquiry, Moraes cited signs of a crime of responsibility by Mendonça and noted that Alcolumbre himself had been investigated. In G1's account, senators read those points as a green light for Alcolumbre to act.
On Friday (Sept. 4), Fachin pulled Moraes's request out of the fake news inquiry. He gave the Prosecutor General's office (PGR) and Mendonça five days to respond and moved the cases to the court's presidency. Both inquiries involving Moraes and Mendonça are now run by Fachin.
Clashing accusations
In the filing, Moraes says Mendonça usurped police authority over the investigations, mishandled talks on a possible plea deal and steered the probe toward chosen targets, including Moraes and Alcolumbre, for what he called "personal and political" reasons. The Federal Police report, in Moraes's reading, shows steps taken by Mendonça with "a blatant loss of impartiality". The dispute became public on Tuesday (Sept. 1), when Mendonça unsealed a Federal Police report he had ordered that exposed messages and contacts between Moraes and Daniel Vorcaro, former owner of Banco Master.
Reaction and next steps
Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro of the PL party reacted on the campaign trail in São Carlos, in São Paulo state. According to Folha de S.Paulo, he said Alcolumbre has no interest in impeaching Moraes and that the Senate has never taken up any of the 54 impeachment requests filed against the justice.
"He chose to protect a friend instead of the institution. He is losing a great chance to restore the Senate's credibility and give the Supreme Court back to the people. They are worried about protecting themselves."
The Prosecutor General's office and Mendonça have five days to answer Moraes's request. Fachin has opened the instruction phase that will decide whether Mendonça can be investigated for abuse of authority, administrative improbity and crime of responsibility, and will also examine the regularity of Moraes's own filing, according to Folha. The court president said his response to the crisis will be "firm, proportional and rigorous".