Brazilian Supreme Court Investigates President Jair Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An open power struggle has erupted in Brazil between the government of Jair Bolsonaro and Supreme Court (STF) justices, in which the military is also intervening.

The judiciary stepped up its investigation this week into the role of members of the Bolsonaro government and his family in spreading fake news, including threatening the Court and supporting right-wing activists calling for a military coup.

On Wednesday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes summoned the Minister of Education, Abraham Weintraub, for questioning. He is accused by the authorities of insults, slander and crimes against national security and political order in the country.

As the government is unwilling to cooperate, Bolsonaro fears his Minister may suffer arrest, which is why the new Minister of Justice, André Mendonça, yesterday petitioned for a prospective habeas corpus if he is imprisoned.

During a cabinet meeting on April 22nd, Weintraub openly expressed hostility to the investigating authorities, who had found the President’s sons, Carlos and Eduardo Bolsonaro, to be the alleged masterminds behind the spread of fake news. “I would put all these criminals in jail and start with the STF,” said the Minister of Education at the time.

In parallel, he supported Bolsonaro, who demanded that the Minister of Justice and Safety, Sérgio Moro, provide intelligence on the ongoing investigations while intending to change the head of the Federal Police. Moro consequently resigned and accused the President of abuse of office and falsification of official documents, among other charges.

Based on Moro’s accusations and the leaked cabinet meeting video in question, STF Justice Celso de Mello launched an inquiry into Bolsonaro. This could lead to his removal from office.

When the STF forwarded to the PGR a petition seeking seizure of the head of state’s mobile phone in mid-May, to investigate his role in the appointment of the new Federal Police Chief, the head of the National Security Council, General Augusto Heleno, threatened the court with “unforeseeable consequences”. Politicians from different camps voiced their discontent.

As a result, on May 22nd, reserve military officers declared their “total and unconditional solidarity” with the General and Bolsonaro and warned of a “civil war”. In an open letter, they described the Supreme Court investigations as “inappropriate, illegal, unjust, arbitrary and violent interference” against the President.

The officers also claim that the Justices thus exposed the country to instability and “in the worst case scenario, could prompt a civil war.”

Concurrently, Bolsonaro runs the risk that the Federal Electoral Court (TSE) will retroactively revoke his election victory. On Tuesday, the new TSE president, Luís Roberto Barroso, announced that over the next three weeks he will consider several motions to annul the winning slate of President Bolsonaro and his Vice Presidentl Hamilton Mourão.

The electoral court currently considers 15 motions from various left-wing and green politicians. They accuse Bolsonaro of illegal campaign funding, deliberate misinformation and the abuse of social media for the mass distribution of fake news during the election campaign.

In parallel, Justice Alexandre de Moraes lifted the banking confidentiality of well-known entrepreneurs who financially sponsored Bolsonaro’s election campaign. The authorities accuse them of having co-financed fake news campaigns.

Last week, seven left-wing parties (PT, PCdoB, PSOL, PCB, PCO, PSTU and UP), together with more than 400 social organizations, as well as renowned attorneys and researchers, filed a motion to impeach the President. In 105 pages, they accuse Bolsonaro of having supported the anti-democratic protests of recent months, which called for the overthrow of Congress.

In addition, he is alleged to have interfered in the work of the Federal Police for his own personal benefit, as well as violating health guidelines to fight the novel coronavirus, thereby endangering lives. As a witness, they list ex-Minister of Justice Moro. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, has now received 35 motions for Bolsonaro’s impeachment.

However, there is currently little prospect of success for an impeachment. In early May, the President secured broad congressional support for himself in exchange for patronage posts in the government for deputies from the major right-of-centre party coalition called Centrão.

With 171 votes, Bolsonaro can rely on one third of the Chamber to fend off the pending impeachment proceedings or judicial inquiries, which require a vote by two-thirds of the 513 seats in the lower chamber to proceed. Maia announced that he would take his time in assessing the motions. He thus holds a means of exerting pressure on Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro seems to be losing popular support as a result of the worsening of the coronavirus pandemic and his disastrous handling of the crisis. With over 26,000 and still rising coronavirus deaths, sections of the political right-wing have shifted away from the President.

In a manifesto, 35 evangelical groups, Bolsonaro’s most valuable supporters, call on the Superior Electoral Court to remove him from office. The President’s conduct in the coronavirus crisis proves “that he is not at the height of his office”. His policy was unethical and anti-life, according to the representatives of the Free Churches.

However, a considerable part of the population still supports the President. Many of Bolsonaro’s supporters consider the negative news to be fake and accuse the media of conducting a campaign against him.

Now, four of Brazil’s largest media outlets have announced that they will stop reporting from the presidential palace. The news outlets – Folha de São Paulo, UOL, Globo and Band – based their action on the fact that they were repeatedly subject to insults and attacks by Bolsonaro’s supporters and were hindered in their work.