The supposed messages exchanged between the minister, of the (Supreme Federal Court), and the businessman, owner of, created a new crisis in the court, removing the feeling of truce that had been observed when he left the case report.
The assessment expressed to the Sheet by two influential ministers of the court, as well as other assistants and interlocutors of the magistrates, is that wear and tear once again leaves the Supreme Court vulnerable to public opinion, but now with even greater weight. This is because Moraes, in addition to being the current vice-president, is seen by most of his colleagues as a pillar of the court in the defense of democracy.
The situation is described behind the scenes as more serious than that, considered a minister with less protagonism in the STF.
The president of the court, , has already expressed to assistants his discomfort with the mentions of Moraes on Vorcaro’s cell phone.
Fachin expressed to these interlocutors his regret at having to face a new problem in such a short time. Since Toffoli left the Master case, the minister had been showing optimism with the restoration of the STF’s image. He even celebrated the unity that was emerging in the court around the debate over salary caps.
The reading is that Fachin is once again in a crossfire over how to deal with the new chapter of the crisis. If he publicly defends Moraes, he will be contradicting his own speech in favor of ethics, a priority of his management. The president of the STF must start another round of internal conversations to evaluate the next steps.
A wing of the STF assesses that restoring society’s trust in the Judiciary, a mantra that Fachin repeats both behind the scenes and in public demonstrations, has become an almost impossible mission, and that the president of the court will have to be skilled in interlocution with the Federal Government to stop possible impeachment proceedings against ministers.
There is already an expectation that Bolsonarism will use the supposed dialogue between Moraes and Vorcaro as “anti-STF ammunition” and cast doubt on the minister’s actions even on issues unrelated to the Master, such as the conduct of investigations into the coup plot and the 2022 elections, when he was president of the (Superior Electoral Court).
The wear and tear is compounded by the fact that the office of lawyer Viviane Barci, Moraes’ wife, has signed a contract with Master to represent the interests of the financial institution. The minister said publicly that magistrates are formally prevented from judging any case for which their relatives advocate.
They were exchanged between Vorcaro and Moraes between 7:19 am and 8:48 pm on November 17, the day the banker was arrested, according to information published by the newspaper O Globo and confirmed by Sheet. The businessman narrated negotiations to try to save the Master and the minister responded with single-view messages.
In a note, Moraes says that he did not receive the messages described in the report. “This is a false inference in the sense, again, of attacking the Federal Supreme Court”, he states. Vorcaro’s defense asked the STF to highlight that the conversations with authorities were “perhaps edited and taken out of context.”
