Overview

• Minister Alexandre de Moraes dismissed the private lawyers for Filipe Martins and Marcelo Câmara after they missed the deadline for final briefs, citing bad-faith litigation and abuse of the right of defense.
• The Defensoria Pública da União was assigned to file the closing arguments, following the PGR’s September 22 submission, positioning the case for judgment in the coming months.
• Defense teams argued they awaited a pending diligence at the electoral court, a justification Moraes rejected while invoking STF and STJ precedents to prevent further delay.
• The ‘núcleo 2’ case targets a group accused by prosecutors of coordinating monitoring and neutralization of public authorities, with some defendants linked in reports to the alleged ‘Punhal Verde e Amarelo’ plan.
• In a surprise plenary statement, Justice Luís Roberto Barroso confirmed his early departure after 12 years on the court; Lula’s choice to replace him requires Senate approval, with AGU chief Jorge Messias widely reported as the favorite and Rodrigo Pacheco also mentioned.