Fachin Considers Taking Over Master and INSS Cases to Ease Supreme Court Crisis

Edson Fachin is considering taking direct control of the investigations involving Banco Master and Brazil's National Social Security Institute, or INSS, in an attempt to ease the crisis engulfing the Supreme Federal Court. The cases are currently assigned to Justice André Mendonça.

At the same time, Fachin is expected to close the fake-news investigation led by Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The proposed moves are intended to contain both sides of an internal dispute that has increasingly taken over the court. People close to Fachin say the conduct of both justices must still be investigated, and that the possibility of the matter ending without consequences is no longer being considered.

The conflict intensified after Mendonça and Moraes accused each other of acting outside the law and the court's operating rules for personal benefit. Mendonça wants Fachin to take the request for an investigation into Moraes to the full court. Moraes wants the same treatment for Mendonça.

Fachin initially bought time by giving everyone involved until September 21 to respond while he tried to negotiate an agreement. But the latest developments have pushed him toward a different strategy. One option would be to send everything to the full court, allowing the justices to decide publicly whether to open investigations. Another would be for Fachin to make the decisions himself and provide a response to the public.

Unlike Moraes and Mendonça, Fachin is described as preferring dialogue and planning to reactive decisions. On Tuesday, October 8, after Mendonça ordered the removal of Federal Police Director Andrei Rodrigues, Fachin met with Justice Minister Wellington Lima e Silva and Attorney General Jorge Messias to discuss lawful ways out of the crisis. Those close to him say the court needs to act quickly, but also calmly. The assessment inside the court is that the crisis has begun affecting the political environment ahead of elections scheduled for less than a month later.