💥 Past the firebreak

Brazil's Supreme Court was rocked last week by open warfare between two of its 10 sitting justices.

André Mendonça fired first, unsealing a report detailing the relationship between Alexandre de Moraes and Banco Master, a now-liquidated lender at the center of the country's largest banking fraud scandal. Moraes struck back, asking that Mendonça be investigated for allegedly steering inquiries to damage political foes and abusing his office. He cited Federal Police intelligence reports scrutinizing Mendonça's recent actions.

On Friday, Chief Justice Edson Fachin thought he had built a firebreak. He pulled Moraes's accusations from the sprawling "Fake News Inquiry," parked them in a new case under his own supervision and gave federal prosecutors five business days to weigh in, then Mendonça five more. Justices expected the full court to take up the matter only after the elections.

Mendonça had other plans…

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