Brazil’s Supreme Court shuts down early as political chaos mounts

Members of the high court have exchanged accusations after one justice was accused of involvement in a bank scandal.

Supreme Court Justice Andre Mendonca, a pastor, delivers a sermon at a Presbyterian Church in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 29 [Alexandre Meneghini/ Reuters]

Brazil’s Supreme Court has cancelled a second straight day of deliberations as suspicions of corruption, political bias and police interference loom over several of its members.

Cancellations are rare at the high court. But on Thursday, Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin nixed a second consecutive session, calling for the court to reconvene on Tuesday instead.

list 1 of 3 Brazil orders Discord to suspend livestreams after teen’s death

list 2 of 3 Brazil’s Supreme Court to weigh cases that could weaken Amazon protections

list 3 of 3 Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro names Alfredo Gaspar as running mate

The decision was spurred by an ongoing crisis among the court’s members.

The divisions emerged on September 1, when one justice, Andre Mendonca, unsealed a series of federal police documents that appeared to show a disgraced banker, Daniel Vorcaro, seeking advice from another justice, Alexandre de Moraes.

De Moraes has rocketed to prominence in recent years for his roles in high-profile cases.

He presided over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro after prosecutors accused the far-right leader of plotting a coup following his 2022 election defeat. De Moraes also oversaw suspensions of platforms like X and Rumble for failing to abide by court orders, making him a target for Brazil’s right wing.

The document release authorised by Mendonca, a Bolsonaro appointee, contains roughly 30 text messages sent to a phone number associated with de Moraes, allegedly from Vorcaro.

In response, de Moraes has accused Mendonca of abusing his authority on the court for political gains. He requested a probe into whether Mendonca interviewed Vorcaro without the presence of police or prosecutors.

Tuesday’s session will involve the full Supreme Court bench, and 10 of the justices will discuss whether the 11th member, de Moraes, should be investigated over the text messages.

The tit-for-tat on Brazil’s high court is the latest fallout from the Banco Master corruption scandal.

Vorcaro, the head of the Banco Master financial institution, was arrested in November 2025 on accusations he defrauded investors of billions in lost funds, in one of the biggest banking scandals in the country’s history.

The collapse of Banco Master’s private banking arm left behind more than $7bn in debt.

Lawmakers from across the political spectrum have become embroiled in the unfolding scandal as new details emerge.

The turmoil risks affecting October’s general elections, including a pivotal presidential election.

Left-wing incumbent Lula Inacio Lula da Silva is set to compete for the presidency against Jair Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Both Lula and Senator Bolsonaro have called for investigations into the Supreme Court justices.

The Bolsonaro family itself has been dragged into the Banco Master scandal. In May, the publication Intercept Brasil released a report showing that Senator Bolsonaro petitioned Vorcaro for funds to finance a film about his ex-president father, who is now serving a 27-year prison sentence.

Senator Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing, claiming he did nothing more than seek private sponsorship for the film, entitled Dark Horse.

But on Thursday, Brazilian police executed dozens of raids related to the Banco Master scandal, including some that targeted two figures involved in the film: Karina Gama, the head of a production company, and Congressman Mario Frias, who served as executive producer.

Senator Bolsonaro has called the probes “attempted political interference” ahead of the elections.

一名法官被指控卷入银行丑闻后，高等法院成员之间互相指责。

8月29日，身为牧师的最高法院法官安德烈·门多萨在巴西圣保罗的一座长老会教堂发表布道。[亚历山大·梅内吉尼/路透社]

由于多名法官涉嫌腐败、政治偏见和警方干预，巴西最高法院连续第二天取消了审议。

最高法院取消庭审的情况很少见。但周四，首席大法官路易斯·埃德森·法钦连续第二次取消了庭审，要求法院改期至周二复会。

列表 1/3：巴西下令 Discord 在一名青少年死亡后暂停直播

巴西最高法院将审理可能削弱亚马逊保护措施的案件（共3项，此为第2项）

巴西总统弗拉维奥·博索纳罗提名阿尔弗雷多·加斯帕尔为竞选搭档（共3条记录，此为第3条）

这一决定是由法院成员之间持续不断的危机引发的。

9 月 1 日，最高法院大法官安德烈·门多萨 (Andre Mendonca) 解封了一系列联邦警察文件，这些文件似乎显示，一位名誉扫地的银行家丹尼尔·沃卡罗 (Daniel Vorcaro) 曾向另一位大法官亚历山大·德·莫赖斯 (Alexandre de Moraes) 寻求建议，由此引发了最高法院的分裂。

近年来，德莫赖斯因在一些备受瞩目的案件中扮演的角色而迅速崛起。

在2022年大选失利后，检方指控极右翼领导人博索纳罗策划政变，德莫赖斯法官主持了对这位前总统的审判。此外，他还下令暂停X和Rumble等平台的运营，原因是这些平台未能遵守法院命令，这使他成为巴西右翼的攻击目标。

经博索纳罗任命的门多萨授权发布的这份文件包含大约 30 条发送到与德莫赖斯有关的电话号码的短信，据称这些短信来自沃卡罗。

对此，德莫赖斯指责门多萨滥用职权，为谋取政治利益。他要求调查门多萨是否在没有警察或检察官在场的情况下讯问了沃卡罗。

周二的会议将由最高法院全体法官参加，其中 10 位法官将讨论是否应该对第 11 位法官德莫赖斯就短信一事展开调查。

巴西最高法院的针锋相对是 Banco Master 腐败丑闻的最新后续影响。

Banco Master 金融机构的负责人 Vorcaro 于 2025 年 11 月被捕，他被指控诈骗投资者数十亿资金，这是该国历史上最大的银行丑闻之一。

Banco Master私人银行部门的倒闭留下了超过70亿美元的债务。

随着新细节的披露，来自不同政治派别的立法者都卷入了这场不断发酵的丑闻之中。

这场动荡可能会影响到10月份的大选，其中包括至关重要的总统选举。

左翼现任总统卢拉·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦将与雅伊尔·博尔索纳罗的长子、参议员弗拉维奥·博尔索纳罗竞争总统职位。

卢拉和参议员博索纳罗都呼吁对最高法院大法官展开调查。

博索纳罗家族本身也被卷入了Banco Master丑闻。今年5月，巴西媒体Intercept Brasil发布报道，称参议员博索纳罗曾向Vorcaro公司申请资金，用于拍摄一部关于他前总统父亲的电影。他的父亲目前正在服刑，刑期为27年。

参议员博索纳罗否认自己有任何不当行为，声称他所做的只是为这部名为《黑马》的电影寻求私人赞助。

但周四，巴西警方对与 Banco Master 丑闻有关的数十起突袭行动展开，其中一些行动的目标是与该电影有关的两名人物：制片公司负责人 Karina Gama 和担任执行制片人的国会议员 Mario Frias。

参议员博索纳罗称这些调查是“企图在选举前进行政治干预”。