Brazil’s chief federal prosecutor has told the country’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) that its seven-year-old fake news inquiry should be closed. Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who heads the federal prosecution service, sent his opinion on Monday 9 November 2026 to Edson Fachin, the court’s president, who now decides.
The inquiry was opened in 2019 to examine attacks, threats and false news aimed at the court and its justices. It became one of the most contested cases in Brazil, and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ran it for years.
Key Facts
•Who. Paulo Gonet, Brazil’s prosecutor-general, backs closing the main fake news inquiry.
•What. His opinion, sent to Supreme Court President Edson Fachin, says the inquiry’s object has ended.
•Next. Fachin decides whether to shelve it. In October he closed at least eight related investigations.
•Scope. About 100 related procedures would still need separate review, one by one.
•Not known. The full text of the opinion was not available at the time of writing, so its reasoning is unconfirmed.
•Power Index. Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
A case that shaped Brazil’s fight over free speech and the courts may now be near its end, though the court’s president has the last word.
What the Prosecutor Said
Gonet’s opinion argues that the main inquiry, numbered 4781 at the court, has exhausted its object. The court’s president now has to decide whether to archive it.
The prosecutor-general’s opinion does not cancel earlier rulings, and it does not automatically close the related cases. Each of those still needs its own review.
How the Inquiry Began
Dias Toffoli, then president of the Supreme Court, opened the inquiry in March 2019. He did so on the court’s own initiative, without a request from prosecutors.
Raquel Dodge, the prosecutor-general of that time, ordered the inquiry archived in April 2019, but Moraes, the justice in charge, rejected that. In June 2020 the court’s full bench upheld the inquiry by 10 votes to 1.
In plain English. The Supreme Federal Court is Brazil’s highest court on constitutional questions. The prosecutor-general leads the federal prosecution service and gives the court its legal opinions.
Fachin Takes Over
In September 2026, an administrative order moved the inquiry and its related cases from Moraes to the court’s presidency. Fachin has since shelved several of them in two rounds of decisions in late October.
The court says the closed cases included investigations of Silas Malafaia, an evangelical pastor, and of Eduardo Bolsonaro, a son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, whose conviction in a separate case became final on 3 October 2026. The second round shelved five more investigations, citing several grounds, including a lack of evidence and expired time limits.
What It Means for You
For readers who follow Brazil’s courts and its ties with Washington, closing the inquiry would end one of the best-known cases of Moraes’s years in charge. The United States sanctioned Moraes in July 2025 and lifted the measures in December 2025, but those sanctions concerned his wider court actions, not this inquiry alone.
Closing the case would not undo past rulings. Several related matters would also stay open until the court reviews them.
What Is Not Known
Fachin has not announced when he will decide on the main inquiry. The full text of Gonet’s opinion was not available at the time of writing, so the reasons behind it are unconfirmed, and it is unclear how many related cases will be shelved with it.
Earlier coverage: Fachin closes three related probes, Moraes and his two pending cases and how the inquiry gave a judge lasting power. See also Brazil news in English.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Brazil’s fake news inquiry?
It is an investigation opened by the Supreme Federal Court in 2019 into attacks, threats and false news aimed at the court and its justices. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ran it until September 2026.
What did the prosecutor-general ask?
Paulo Gonet asked the court to archive the main inquiry, saying its object has ended. Court President Edson Fachin will decide.
Does this end every related case?
No, because about 100 related procedures still need separate review. Past rulings are not cancelled either.
Who is Edson Fachin?
Fachin is the president of Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court. He took charge of the inquiry from Moraes in September 2026.
Sources: Supreme Federal Court administrative order GP 189/2026 (9 September 2026) and court decisions of October 2026; opinion of the Prosecutor-General’s Office, 9 November 2026 (full text not available); US Treasury sanctions notices (30 July and 12 December 2025).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
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