Andrei cancels appearance at Federal Police event after Mendonça orders his removal

Andrei Rodrigues learned that a Supreme Court justice had ordered his removal shortly before he was due to speak at a Federal Police training event in Brasília. He canceled his appearance, leaving 735 students at the National Academy waiting for about 50 minutes.

William Murad, the Federal Police’s executive director and second-in-command, eventually replaced Rodrigues at the opening of the professional training course. The decision to remove the police chief came from Justice André Mendonça on Tuesday.

Mendonça’s decision said the request for Rodrigues’s removal stemmed from an internal Federal Police report. Justice Alexandre de Moraes had used the report to seek an investigation into Mendonça himself over alleged abuse of authority, administrative misconduct and a crime of responsibility in his handling of the Banco Master and National Social Security Institute cases.

Mendonça also made a preventive request for Leandro Almada, the Federal Police intelligence director, to leave his post. His decision still required review by the Supreme Court’s Second Panel, which includes Mendonça, Luiz Fux, Gilmar Mendes, Dias Toffoli and Nunes Marques.

Fux called an extraordinary virtual session to examine the decision. The panel formed a majority to keep Rodrigues removed from office, but Mendes requested more time to study the case, suspending the session.