September 7 rallies become a test for Fachin’s decision on Moraes and Mendonça

Brazil’s Sept. 7 demonstrations could become the political lever in a worsening confrontation inside the Supreme Federal Court, as its president, Edson Fachin, decides what to do about Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça.

Fachin must determine whether to advance a request to remove Moraes from the court and investigate his relationship with former banker Daniel Vorcaro. He must also decide how to handle Moraes’s accusation that Mendonça committed official misconduct and abused his authority.

For now, Fachin has signaled that he may finally demand the closure of the fake-news inquiry. Behind the scenes, there is also speculation that he could remove Mendonça from the cases involving Master and the National Social Security Institute. The court erupted last week after Mendonça lifted the secrecy surrounding messages between Moraes and Vorcaro.

The conversations raised suspicions of crimes including corruption, administrative advocacy and influence peddling, according to the article. Rather than explain the content of the messages, it says, Moraes used the fake-news inquiry to accuse his colleague of official misconduct and abuse, relying on an unauthenticated document without an official Federal Police header that was classified as an internal report with “no evidentiary value.”

The article portrays Moraes as relying on a majority of allies in the full court, including Justices Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin and Gilmar Mendes, while Mendonça belongs to a minority backed only by Luiz Fux. Mendonça’s interlocutors are therefore counting on public participation in the Sept. 7 rallies to pressure Cármen Lúcia, Nunes Marques and Dias Toffoli, whose positions remain uncertain.

The demonstrations were initially being organized as the main campaign event for Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential bid. It remains unclear whether they will take on a broader dimension.

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