Brazil’s Lower House Committees Escalate Pressure on Justice Minister After Missed Hearing

Overview

• Brazil’s Foreign Relations Committee voted to ask Chamber President Hugo Motta to convene a General Commission of the Plenary to debate organized crime after Ricardo Lewandowski skipped a scheduled hearing.
• Lewandowski did not attend the session on the Nadine Heredia asylum case, with his ministry sending a letter citing short notice and prior COP30-related commitments in Belém, marking the committee’s third attempt to hear him.
• Committee chair Filipe Barros said he will notify the Prosecutor General and seek a crime-of-responsibility complaint in response to the minister’s absence.
• The Public Security Committee separately approved a formal summons for Lewandowski to explain the federal government’s alleged absence from a Rio operation that left at least 121 dead in the Penha and Alemão complexes.
• The federal government and the Federal Police reject claims of omission, noting there was no GLO decree from the state and that PF leaders deemed the operation’s design incompatible with PF participation.