Lindbergh Farias Seeks STF Intervention Over Alleged Frame-up Investigation

Federal Deputy Lindbergh Farias of the PT party has petitioned the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to nullify an investigation by the Chamber of Deputies' Legislative Police. The investigation stems from a testimony given by a man named Luiz Antonio Lopes, who claims that Farias participated in a scheme to forge a rape accusation against Deputy Alfredo Gaspar of the PL party. Gaspar, who was the rapporteur for the CPMI of the INSS and is the vice-presidential candidate on Flavio Bolsonaro's ticket, has denied the rape allegations and is suing Farias and Senator Soraya Thronicke for slander and calumny.

According to the testimony, Lopes claims a woman was paid to falsely tell a reporter she had been sexually abused by a politician. Some reports specify the payment was 16,500 reais, while others mention payments ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 reais. Farias has dismissed the claims as false and called the testimony a scam. His defense argues that the Legislative Police exceeded their authority by conducting a criminal investigation that should be the exclusive domain of the Federal Police and the STF.

Allies of Farias claim that Lopes is attempting to extort money and has changed his version of events. They point to old videos showing Lopes attacking Farias. Conversely, Gaspar has requested that the STF and the Prosecutor General's Office accelerate a DNA test to prove the rape accusation is false. Minister Gilmar Mendes is currently the STF rapporteur for the related proceedings. Center-right sources suggest the alleged frame-up was intended to divert attention from billion-real fraud investigations in the social security system, while center and center-left sources focus more on the legal disputes over jurisdiction and the validity of the witness testimony.