The na against Mariângela Fialek, Tuca, an advisor linked to the former president (PP-AL) and who continues to manage the distribution of parliamentary amendments during the (-PB) administration, inflamed the atmosphere behind the scenes of Congress this Friday (12) and with the (Supreme Federal Court).
Tuca is the employee responsible for organizing the distribution lists of parliamentary amendments to the Budget since the Lira administration. At the time, the rapporteur’s amendments were without transparency, which was overturned by the STF in 2022. Currently, the , which began to inform the name of the parliamentarian or the leader of the party responsible for the funds.
The search and seizure took place in one of the presidential offices, where the server usually dispatches and where it is common for deputies to form a queue to be attended to. The room is in an annex building and is not the president’s main room, but the operation there was considered symbolic by members of the Chamber’s leadership, who accused it of being an action against Motta and the institution itself.
The session to vote on the National Education Plan bill that would take place this Friday ended in less than five minutes, without analysis of the proposal. The vote was scheduled for next week, given the attention focused on the search and seizure action that would take place in the corridor of the building attached to the plenary, according to parliamentarians.
An ally of Lira claims that the civil servant knows and has written down all political agreements in her office and cell phone, with spreadsheets that inform who received and directed resources to each place. The operation would follow the scrutiny carried out by the minister on parliamentary amendments, which became a source of conflict throughout 2024.
The notes would include not only federal deputies, but also governors, mayors and party presidents, who benefited from the scheme that kept the author of the nominations secret.
The number of politicians involved and the volume of money invested caused a wave of concern to wash over congressmen. A deputy says that the Chamber woke up on fire with the operation, and with constant exchanges of messages between parliamentarians, full of criticism of the STF and demands for a harsher reaction against the ministers.
Motta spent the day calling deputies, to get their opinion on what to do, and called some leaders to a meeting on Friday night. He also called ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Gilmar Mendes, according to interlocutors, to try to calm things down.
After the meeting with the deputies, Motta released a note in defense of the parliamentary amendments, of Tuca (“a competent, responsible technician and committed to the good management of public affairs”) and of the improvements made to improve the transparency of these resources, in addition to demanding supervision over the Executive Branch’s funds.
“The Chamber of Deputies respects the Federal Supreme Court and all decisions made by it. It highlights, however, that a careful and correct reading of the decision made by the Illustrious Minister Flávio Dino reveals that there is no indication of any act of misuse of public funds. None”, said Motta.
The level of tension was already high with the STF because of Moraes’ decision the previous day, when he declared unconstitutional the Chamber session that maintained the mandate of deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) and ordered her to be revoked, with the substitute taking office within 48 hours. Motta has not yet said whether he will comply with the decision.
Despite the revolt, deputies say that the PF operation should have few practical consequences for investigations against congressmen, since the advisor knows the destination and author of the amendments, but would not be aware of any irregularities committed at the end, when the appeal was effectively a gesture by the managers — and then some deviation could occur by the parliamentarian.
This Friday’s Federal Police operation was called Transparency and authorized by the minister. According to the PF, suspicions of crimes of embezzlement, ideological falsehood, use of false documents and corruption are being investigated.
In a statement, Tuca’s lawyers state that she is an experienced professional with no history of party affiliation and currently performs functions in the technical organization of the budget.
“In this capacity, he was technically responsible for organizing parliamentary amendments, in the exact terms of what was decided by the presidency of the House and by all party leaders without distinction (college of leaders). His actions were strictly technical, non-partisan and impersonal”, says the defense note, signed by lawyers Luis Inácio Adams and Maria Claudia Bucchianeri.
Lira told interlocutors that he was calm and accused Dino of criminalizing politics by linking the distribution of resources to governors and mayors through the amendments with a police operation. He also stated that it was unfair to the advisor, who is a technician who is only fulfilling the role assigned to her in the Legislature and who is a public servant.
Wanted by Sheetthe former president of the Chamber did not respond.
Tuca continued to be responsible for this role during Motta’s management, chosen by Lira as his successor. She began to manage the lists and charge the ministries for releasing the committee amendments, which replaced the rapporteur’s amendments. In 2025, they represent around R$10.5 billion of the federal budget.
