Court undecided on whether Moraes can be probed by fellow justices

The Brazilian Supreme Court convened on Tuesday (Sep. 15) but remained split over whether Justice Alexandre de Moraes should face an investigation concerning his alleged connections to ex-banker Daniel Vorcaro. Justice Flávio Dino sought a reassessment of the case, granted a 90-day extension to deliberate. The impasse emerged from a disagreement over the appropriate procedure for the ruling.

Initially, chief justice Edson Fachin included Moraes' case on the agenda, while the review of allegations against André Mendonça was set for September 23. During the session, Moraes' allies argued that the relationship with Vorcaro should be considered alongside the irregularities linked to Mendonça, who had previously handled the investigation.

Justice Gilmar Mendes called for a point of order, requesting that Moraes' and Mendonça's charges be tried together. However, the final decision was postponed as Dino requested additional time to review the case file following the contentious exchange between Mendes and Mendonça. The preliminary vote showed a 4-3 majority in favor of conducting separate trials.

Mendonça, the former rapporteur for the Banco Master case, is accused by Moraes of biased conduct while investigating him. Additionally, Brazil's prosecutor-general claims Mendonça illegally conducted an in-depth inquiry into the Banco Master case to scrutinize conversations involving Moraes and Vorcaro, which required full court authorization.

Moraes contends that his colleague's actions were politically motivated, citing the connection between Mendonça and former President Jair Bolsonaro, who appointed him to the Supreme Court. In a defense filed early Tuesday, Moraes denied any wrongdoing and deemed the report containing alleged messages from Vorcaro as unconstitutional and illegal.