Brazil's AGU appeals Mendonça ruling removing federal police chief

Brazil's solicitor general's office has challenged a Supreme Court decision that removed Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, arguing that the authority to appoint and dismiss the police chief belongs to the president.

The appeal targets a ruling by Justice André Mendonça, who ordered Rodrigues out after the Federal Police produced an internal report later used by Justice Alexandre de Moraes to request an investigation into Mendonça. The report suggested possible crimes including abuse of authority, administrative misconduct and crimes of responsibility in the handling of cases involving Banco Master and the National Social Security Institute, or INSS.

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surreal

Mendonça described the police material in unusually sharp terms, calling it “surreal” and “unimaginable.” He also used quotation marks when referring to it as a document. The justice said the report showed that he and AGU chief Jorge Messias had been monitored by the Federal Police for at least 30 days this year.

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unimaginable

The police document further accused Mendonça of steering investigations against Moraes and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre, alleging “a breach of judicial impartiality and favoritism toward certain political groups.” The abuse-of-authority allegation arose after Mendonça made public Federal Police inquiries identifying Moraes as an interlocutor of Banco Master owner Daniel Vorcaro.

Mendonça has indicated that he may take to the full court the question of whether to open a formal investigation into his colleague. The dispute also carries a personal institutional dimension: Mendonça is seen as a strong ally of Messias, whom he openly supported for a seat on the Supreme Court.

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with a breach of judicial impartiality and favoritism toward certain political groups