Mendonça frees Moraes-Vorcaro case to STF plenary

Minister André Mendonça, of Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), released on Sunday (6) for trial in the plenary of the Court the report of the Federal Police that pointed to a supposed relationship between Minister Alexandre de Moraes and the former banker Daniel Vorcaro. Now it is up to the president of STF, Minister Edson Fachin, to decide what to do, therefore, when and if the case will be considered by the plenary. And also the model: open or closed session.

Last week, Mendonça withdrew the secrecy and sent the report of the PF to the Presidency and for the demonstration of the Attorney General of the Republic. The movement escalated the crisis in the Supreme.

Fachin waits for information before deciding

The president of STF, Edson Fachin, said it was necessary to gather information from the ministers of the court André Mendonça and Alexandre de Moraes, from the attorney general of the Republic (PGR), Paulo Gonet, and from the director general of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues. Fachin must wait for the answers to manifest.

The president of STF gave until Friday (11) for them to provide information on the events that caused a crisis in STF. Fachin’s decision came after Mendonça withdrew the secrecy of a Federal Police report that exposed messages and contacts between Banco Master founder Daniel Vorcaro and minister Alexandre de Moraes.

Possible paths to the case

In the case of opting for the plenary, Fachin still needs to define whether it will be an open or closed session. The ministers will then decide whether to open an investigation or to dismiss the investigations involving Moraes.

Fachin could still decide on a reserved meeting, as happened in February when another PF report showed exchange of messages between minister Dias Toffoli and the former owner of Banco Master. There is also the possibility that Minister Fachin will decide individually whether to open or archive the report. This alternative is considered, by people heard by the report, more remote.

Preference for public session

The indication is that Fachin would have preference for a public session, but that the model should only be confirmed after a consultation that has been doing to colleagues. As the blog of journalist Valdo Cruz showed, Fachin signaled to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) that he intends to bring to the plenary of the Court the unfolding of the crisis involving ministers Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça.

The assessment is that the allegations and questions that have come to the surface in recent days need to be analyzed by all ministers, and not only through individual decisions. Fachin also showed uneasiness with the way the two sides have been conducting the clash.

The Regiment and the declarations of Fachin

The STF regiment does not specifically deal with how an investigation against a minister should be conducted. The document only says that it is up to the plenary to process and judge.

In a speech on Friday at an event in the Planalto Palace, the president of STF said that no authority is above the Constitution and that response to "serious" facts will be "firm". He also stated that the “severity” of the events made public last week – involving relations of the banker Daniel Vorcaro with ministers of the Court and with the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, and the actions of magistrates – “does not authorize shortcuts.”

PGR calls for nullity of investigation

The Public Prosecutor's Office (PGR) on Tuesday declared the investigation led by André Mendonça to be null and void, which pointed to a relationship between Minister Alexandre de Moraes and Daniel Vorcaro. The PGR argued that Minister André Mendonça should not have asked for an assessment of the recipient of the former banker’s messages without a request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office or from the PF itself, and that the competence to decide on the possible assessment of Moraes is the Court’s plenary.

Mendonça defended the analysis by the plenary of STF, arguing that, "in view of the content of the information presented", the inevitable way would be the evaluation by the collegiate, since it is "a sovereign body to analyze, in a technical and strictly legal way".

Messages also cite Paulo Gonet

Messages recovered by PF from the Daniel Vorcaro cell also suggest proximity between the banker and Paulo Gonet. The lawyer Ciro Soares appears as the main interlocutor between the two. He was one of the lawyers who filed habeas corpus in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) to try to reverse the first decision authorizing the pre-trial detention of Vorcaro.

Now, the expectation is for Fachin’s decision on the next steps. The outcome may define the course of the crisis in the Supreme Court and the future of investigations involving ministers of the Court.

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