Brazil court crisis deepens as justice orders federal police chief suspended
The ruling deepens an unprecedented court clash as justices weigh investigations into two of their own members amid competing misconduct allegations.
- On Tuesday, Justice Andre Mendonca ordered the preventive suspension of Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues and intelligence chief Leandro Almada, citing the "exceptional gravity and illegality" of intelligence reports publicized by Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
- The ruling intensifies an open confrontation between Mendonca, a nominee of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and Moraes, who pursued Bolsonaro over a 2023 coup plot and won his conviction in 2025.
- Last week, Mendonca disclosed a report raising questions about alleged contacts between Moraes and a banker accused of leading a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme, prompting calls for an investigation into the justice.
- Moraes responded by seeking an investigation into Mendonca for alleged abuse of authority, citing federal police reports that Mendonca has challenged as illegal.
- Brazil's Supreme Court is now weighing whether to investigate two of its own members amid competing allegations of misconduct, marking a dramatic chapter in an unprecedented institutional conflict.
106 Articles
106 Articles
Less than a month from the Brazilian presidential elections, an unprecedented institutional crisis is shaking the country. On Tuesday, a judge of the Supreme Court ordered the suspension of the head of the Federal Police. ...
Associated Press News
Brazil Supreme Court removes federal police chief, deepening crisis at the top court
Brazilian Supreme Court Justice André Mendonca has removed the head of the federal police and the intelligence chief from their posts.
The crisis began last week when a police report was published revealing messages sent by banker Daniel Vorcaro to a number attributed to Judge Alexandre de Moraes, in which he asked for help in halting the investigation that shortly thereafter led to his arrest on suspicion of fraud. That report was released by Judge André Mendonça, who is in charge of the case of the now-defunct Banco Master, which Vorcaro owned. In Tuesday's latest developme…
According to the decision, the reports of the director general of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, and the chief of intelligence of the body, Leandro Almada da Costa, compiled and supervised the proceedings and decisions of Judge André Mendonça and the state attorney general, Jorge Messias.
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