Mendonça Seeks to Halt Moraes Case as Fachin Faces a Procedural Test

Mendonça Seeks to Halt Moraes Case as Fachin Faces a Procedural Test
Justice André Mendonça has asked Supreme Federal Court (STF) President Edson Fachin to dismiss allegations brought by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, arguing that the intelligence reports used against him lack evidentiary value and were improperly introduced into the case.

Moraes, in turn, has sought an investigation into Mendonça over alleged abuse of authority, administrative misconduct and crimes of responsibility. He contends that Mendonça acted beyond a judge’s role by ordering investigative measures and pursuing inquiries with personal or political motivations. Mendonça rejects those assertions and says the reports cited by Moraes improperly convert intelligence material into criminal evidence.

In his filing, Mendonça argued that the material “does not serve as information against” him because of defects in the act that placed it in the record, regardless of its contents. He has also requested unrestricted access to the full fake-news inquiry, which has been under seal since 2019, saying that access is necessary to determine whether other material concerning him is in the case file.

The competing requests put Fachin in a delicate position. Reports citing legal specialists say he could conduct an initial admissibility review, seek a further opinion from Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, decide narrower requests separately, or wait for the court’s full bench to settle related procedural questions. A single-justice dismissal could be faster if the evidence is deemed unusable, but a plenary ruling could provide greater institutional backing.

Mendonça’s supporters have framed the dispute more broadly as a test of transparency in the fake-news inquiry. Commentator Rodrigo Constantino urged that the police faction he associates with Moraes be exposed, reflecting the sharper political reaction surrounding the judicial clash. Yet the underlying accusations remain unresolved: a procedural dismissal would not itself determine whether either justice committed wrongdoing.

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