STF Plenary Decides Whether to Open Probe Into Minister Alexandre de Moraes

Overview

• The Supreme Federal Court convened a plenary session on Tuesday to decide whether to open an investigation into Alexandre de Moraes based on a Police Federal intelligence report drawn from Daniel Vorcaro's cellphone and placed under the relatoria of President Edson Fachin.
• The PF report identified roughly 52 message-like exchanges tied to a number attributed to Moraes and referenced a R$131 million contract between Banco Master and the law firm of Moraes’s wife.
• The Procuradoria-Geral da República asked the Court to declare the PF procedure null, arguing that André Mendonça ordered investigative acts without plenary authorization and without a prior request from the PGR or the PF.
• Moraes submitted a 44-page defence rejecting any favouritism, disputing the PF’s handling and interpretation of the cellphone data, and calling the probe a "farsa" motivated by "vingança."
• In the run-up to the vote the PF delivered copies of the full extracted data to several ministers’ offices, the OAB urged precautionary removal measures, and a separate proceeding against Mendonça is set for September 23, leaving the institutional fallout and transparency disputes unresolved.