Fate of Brazil Justice Minister Unclear After Resignation Report [View all]

[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.

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