Fate of Brazil Justice Minister Unclear After Resignation Report

[Judi Lynn]

1h ago

Julia Leite and Simone Iglesias, Bloomberg News

Sergio Moro, Brazil's minister of Justice, pauses while testifying before the Senate Justice and Constitution Committee in Brasilia, Brazil, on Wednesday, June 19, 2019. Moro said that there was no wrongdoing in the Carwash anti-corruption probe and that he can't tell if leaked messages with prosecutors were tampered with. Photographer: Andre Coelho/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The fate of Sergio Moro, the former judge behind Brazil’s biggest corruption investigation and a key member of President Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet, was still unclear hours after local media reported he had resigned from his post as justice minister.

Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said Moro tendered his resignation Thursday afternoon but Bolsonaro had yet to accepted it. The minister, who rose to fame fighting the country’s endemic corruption as head of the so-called Carwash probe, decided to step down after the president moved to replace Federal Police chief Mauricio Valeixo, according to the newspaper.

Hours later, Valor Economico reported the president backtracked from his decision to fire Valeixo, Moro’s right-hand man at the institution that’s akin to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. That persuaded the minister to stay on, the newspaper said.

Moro and the president’s office didn’t reply to requests for comment, and Bolsonaro avoided the topic entirely during his weekly live webcast on social media.

More:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/fate-of-brazil-justice-minister-unclear-after-resignation-report-1.1426308

[Eugene]

1. Brazil's star justice minister Sergio Moro resigns in blow to Jair Bolsonaro

Source: The Guardian

Brazil's star justice minister Sérgio Moro resigns in blow to Jair Bolsonaro

Powerful former judge’s exit weakens president, with pot-banging protests breaking out within seconds of his announcement

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Fri 24 Apr 2020 16.21 BST
First published on Fri 24 Apr 2020 15.46 BST

One of the most popular and powerful figures in Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right administration – the celebrity justice minister Sérgio Moro – has resigned, setting up a potentially momentous political conflict just as Brazil struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Moro – a hero for much of the Brazilian right and a hate figure for many on the left – announced his decision on Friday after clashing with the president over Bolsonaro’s sacking of the head of Brazil’s federal police.

“I have to protect my biography and above all the commitment I took on … that we would stand firm against corruption, organized crime and violent crime,” said Moro, a 47-year-old judge who became a household name for leading the “Car Wash” corruption investigation and jailing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of the 2018 presidential election.

With Lula sidelined, Bolsonaro won a landslide victory by pledging to combat corruption and appointed Moro just days later as a potent symbol of his supposed intentions.

Brian Winter, the editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, said Moro’s exit could have huge implications for Brazil’s leader by eating away at his support base of about 30% of voters – which some believe could pave the way for impeachment.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/brazil-justice-minister-sergio-moro-resigns-jair-bolsonaro

[Judi Lynn]

2. Totally great article from the Guardian. More:

“He has been deeply frustrated by a number of things including the government’s response to Covid-19,” Winter said, claiming Moro had been part of a group of ministers “constantly lobbying Bolsonaro to take the pandemic more seriously and adopt a science-based response”.

Winter said Moro, who last year resisted calls to resign after leaked documents prompted claims he had improperly plotted to jail Lula, also sensed political pressure on Bolsonaro was growing and that the coming months would represent “an existential threat for the presidency itself”.

. . .

“Every single person in government should be totally focused on Covid-19,” Doria said.

“The only real result of all this is that a lot of people will die.”

This time, he can't blame the Brazilian "fake news."

Thanks for the article.