The minister’s authorization for the operation investigating the leak of data from ministers and their families was the target of criticism within and within the Federal Supreme Court.
The minister became the rapporteur for the investigation, opened in 2019 to investigate attacks by Bolsonarists on the court.
This Tuesday’s operation (17) joins other investigations determined by Moraes within the same investigation and which have the minister himself as one of the possible victims of .
At least one Supreme Court minister heard by the Sheet disagrees with the way Alexandre de Moraes conducted the investigation.
Under reservation, he says that, technically, the operation could not be a step within the Fake News Inquiry. For this minister, a separate investigation should have been opened based on a request from the PGR (Attorney General’s Office), and it would be up to the president of the court to decide whether or not the procedure should be distributed freely among the members of the court.
Another minister consulted by the report, however, supported the operation and saw Moraes’ efficient response to possible irregularities.
The action was also criticized in Congress. Representative Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ) said on social media that Moraes “opened an investigation on his own to protect personal and family interests, using the STF as a shield.” “This is not justice, it is abuse of power. A judge cannot be a victim, investigator and judge at the same time,” he stated.
Senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE) stated that “combating leaks and the sale of confidential data is important, but it should not serve as a smokescreen to hide unjustified assets or crimes committed by important figures in the Republic”.
Tracking possible breaches of confidentiality fits into the context of the institutional crisis between the Powers and public bodies caused by the breach and liquidation of .
Moraes’ family came into focus in the news after the newspaper O Globo revealed that Banco Master was the firm of his wife, Viviane Barci, for 36 months from the beginning of 2024, with monthly payments of R$3.6 million.
At the beginning of the year, the Sheet revealed that the minister’s family was from Paraná, and was a partner in fraud investigated by authorities.
Later, Toffoli admitted that he was one of the partners in this family company.
In recent weeks, he has complained about the stance of the Lula (PT) government in the crisis that led to Toffoli’s departure from his role as rapporteur of inquiries into the Master, following the revelations about the minister’s relationship.
The magistrates sent an assessment to the Palácio do Planalto that he had acted outside the law and that PT members were trying to exploit the case politically. They criticized, above all, the material delivered by the PF to Fachin that points out connections between Toffoli and Daniel Vorcaro, owner of Master.
The targets of this Tuesday’s operation worked at the IRS. According to a note from the Supreme Court, data leak suspects include Luiz Antônio Martins Nunes (server of Serpro, a state-owned data processing company, which was on loan to the Tax Authorities), Luciano Pery Santos Nascimento, Ruth Machado dos Santos and Ricardo Mansano de Moraes.
The operation took place after the on data from around 100 people as determined by Moraes. The list included parents, children, siblings and spouses of the ten court ministers.
In a note, the STF stated that initial investigations demonstrate the existence of “a block of accesses whose analysis, by the responsible areas, did not identify a functional justification”. The defenses of those investigated were not located by the report.
