STF President Fachin Sets Separate Trial Dates for Ministers Moraes and Mendonça Amid Internal Crisis

Supreme Federal Court (STF) President Edson Fachin has ruled that the court will hold separate sessions to address investigations involving ministers Alexandre de Moraes and André Mendonça. A plenary session is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, to decide whether to investigate Minister Moraes following a Federal Police report detailing messages between him and former banker Daniel Vorcaro. A second session is scheduled for September 23 to analyze allegations of abuse of authority and impartiality against Minister Mendonça. This decision follows requests from both Moraes and Gilmar Mendes to have the cases judged together to avoid contradictory decisions, which Fachin denied on the grounds that the case against Mendonça is not yet ready for deliberation.

The crisis was triggered by messages revealed by the press in which Vorcaro, owner of Banco Master, allegedly sought information from Moraes about an investigation and asked if he should flee the country. Minister Mendonça, the rapporteur of the case, requested the police report and lifted its secrecy. In response, Moraes accused Mendonça of protecting a specific political group and requested an investigation into his conduct based on a separate intelligence report. Meanwhile, Minister Gilmar Mendes and Minister Cristiano Zanin have urged Fachin to grant all justices access to the raw data from Vorcaro's cell phone, arguing that asymmetric access to information compromises the parity of the court. Mendonça has resisted this request, stating that releasing the full data could jeopardize ongoing investigations.

Security in the surroundings of the STF will be reinforced on Tuesday for the first session. The proceedings are expected to address the validity of the evidence and whether Minister Moraes should be temporarily removed from his duties if an investigation is opened.