Brazil’s Prosecutor General sees no irregularity in Covid CPI governors’ summons

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Prosecutor General (PGR) on Thursday, June 10, argued in favor of the summoning of governors to testify in the Federal Senate’s Covid CPI (investigative committee).

The opinion was forwarded to the office of Federal Supreme Court (STF) Justice Rosa Weber, who in the coming days will decide on the request for “safe conduct” made by heads of state executives.

Signed by Prosecutor General Augusto Aras, the opinion addresses two points: the competence of the National Congress to investigate state authorities and the immunity, provided for in the Constitution, which guarantees the heads of the executive branch the right to remain silent in parliamentary committees.

According to Aras, governors may be summoned to provide information to the Senate because the Covid CPI investigation is interested in the allocation of federal resources, which falls within the competence of Congress. He dismisses the argument of violation of the federative pact.

“Given these premises – that the National Congress has jurisdiction to oversee the allocation of federal resources and that anyone who uses, keeps, manages or administers federal property has a duty to render accounts – the summoning of state governors to testify in the parliamentary committee of inquiry installed in one of the houses of the National Congress is a logical consequence, provided that it is limited to the rendering of accounts on the application of transferred federal resources,” he wrote.

Aras said that, similarly, state authorities may only use the right to remain silent when summoned by state Legislative Assemblies.

“The principle of symmetry aims to transfer to the state sphere the same regulation in place at the federal level. In this case, the same relationship that exists between the federal government’s Executive and Legislative Branches applies to the one established between the Executive and Legislative Branches of the states and the Federal District,” he wrote.

“When using, keeping, managing or administering federal government resources, state and municipal managers (including governors and mayors) do not act within the sphere of autonomy of state bodies. By calling a state governor to testify on the use of federal resources, a CPI installed within the National Congress does not cause, therefore, any federative imbalance,” he added.

In an opinion sent to the Supreme Court, the General Counsel of the Senate also advocated the depositions. In the document, the Senate says that ‘no authority or power is above the law’ and states that the summons do not warrant ‘constitutional censure’. “The hearing of these parties is essential for the success of the CPI’s goal, which also involves investigating the results and efficacy of voluntary federal transfers made to other federated bodies, in order to improve regulation on the subject,” argued the Legislative House.

Governors took the issue to the Supreme Court after 9 of them were summoned to be questioned in the CPI at the request of senators. The governors petition to annul summons already approved and to bar new hearings.

Late Thursday night, Justice Rosa Weber authorized the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima (PSC), not to attend the hearing scheduled for today. In this case, the argument was that, because he is the target of criminal investigations into embezzlement of public funds in the pandemic, he should have the right not to produce evidence against himself.