Cármen Lúcia Sees Errors by Both Moraes and Mendonça in Supreme Court Power Struggle

Cármen Lúcia has become the pivotal figure in a power struggle between Supreme Court Justices Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça. She sees errors on both sides, but has not decided which of the two will receive her support.

The court is expected to consider whether Mendonça used arbitrary methods in investigations into Banco Master and Brazil’s National Social Security Institute. Those inquiries produced a Federal Police report identifying Moraes as an interlocutor of former banker Daniel Vorcaro. The court will also assess whether Moraes acted properly when he used the fake-news inquiry to seek an investigation of Mendonça for abuse of authority, administrative misconduct and a crime of responsibility.

Before Moraes launched his counterattack on Thursday, Cármen telephoned him and appeared to express solidarity with his public exposure. Mendonça had lifted the confidentiality of a police report on Tuesday. The report included conversations between Vorcaro and Moraes, including a message in which the banker asked whether he should leave Brazil shortly before his arrest in 2025.

According to an aide, Moraes interpreted Cármen’s call as a signal, although she did not promise to support him in future votes. The subsequent use of the fake-news inquiry against Mendonça also displeased her. She reportedly told someone close to her that she was perplexed by both colleagues and by the extent of the Supreme Court’s internal erosion.

Cármen has told aides that she knows her vote is being contested and that legal circles are even placing informal bets on which faction she will join. She says she will decide solely on the case files, whose full contents she has not yet accessed. Moraes has the support of Gilmar Mendes, Flávio Dino and Cristiano Zanin. Mendonça is said to count on Luiz Fux, Kassio Nunes Marques and Edson Fachin. Dias Toffoli will stay out of the votes after declaring himself conflicted in the Banco Master cases.