Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court upheld the removal of Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues on Tuesday, exposing a deep rift within the court and drawing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government into fresh turbulence ahead of October’s national elections.
The Second Panel of the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil formed a majority this Tuesday to ratify the decision of Minister André Mendoça to remove the General Director of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues.
However, the conclusion of the trial was interrupted by a request for review by Minister Gilmar Mendes. Meanwhile, Mendoça’s preliminary measure remains in effect.
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The request for review was presented by Gilmar Mendes as soon as the extraordinary session of the Second Panel opened to analyze the case at 10 A.M. local time. Shortly thereafter, Ministers Luiz Fux and Nunes Marques cast their votes to confirm Mendoça’s decision, forming a majority of three out of the five ministers who make up the panel. The extraordinary session of the Second Panel was convened hours after Mendoça signed the decision to remove Rodrigues and Leandro Almada, the intelligence director of the Federal Police.
The Minister justified the decision to remove the officials, alleging that he had been the target of illegal surveillance during the month of August, with the presentation of at least six hidden intelligence reports. The Attorney General of the Union, Jorge Messias, was also under surveillance.
El juez de la Corte Suprema André Mendonça, nominado por Jair Bolsonaro, retiró del mando de la Policía Federal a Andrei Rodrigues, quien asumió por orden de Lula en enero del 2023.
Mendonça dice haber sido objeto de un “monitoreo sistemático” de la inteligencia de la PF. La… pic.twitter.com/Vbo191gJGc
— Nacho Lemus (@LemusteleSUR) September 8, 2026
Text reads: “Supreme Court Justice André Mendonça, nominated by Jair Bolsonaro, removed Andrei Rodrigues from command of the Federal Police, who took over on Lula’s order in January 2023. Mendonça claims to have been the subject of a “systematic monitoring” of Federal Police intelligence. The decision counts six “intelligence reports” produced between 3 and 31 August and sent to the Minister of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes. Mendonça functions as a selective buffer on the cause of financial fraud at the Master Bank and corruption at the Social Security Institute (INSS). In practice, the judge prevents connections with bolsonarism from being revealed…”
The existence of the reports came to light after Magistrate Alexandre de Moraes, also of the Supreme Court, made one of them public. De Moraes affirmed, based on the document, that Mendoça was committing abuses of authority by directing, as rapporteur, the investigations of Operation Zero Compliance. This operation investigates cases of corruption involving public officials and multimillion-dollar financial frauds related to Banco Master and its former owner, Daniel Vorcaro. De Moraes published an intelligence report from the Federal Police after Mendoça, in turn, made public messages recovered from the mobile phone seized from Vorcaro, which, according to the police, were sent to De Moraes.
In the messages, the former banker appears to have a close relationship with the latter. One of them suggests, for example, that the minister received and edited a contract of 131 million reais (more than 25.7 million dollars）between Master and the law firm of his wife, the lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes. In another message, Vorcaro appears to be seeking information from Moraes about a possible Federal Police’s operation to arrest him. De Moraes, for his part, denies any contact with the former banker.
Gravíssima a situação! Os diretores da PF colocando o cargo à disposição, em solidariedade ao Andrei Rodrigues.
Andrei, enquanto chefe da Polícia Federal, desvendou o assassinato de Marielle Franco, prendeu os deputados do Rio envolvidos com o Comando Vermelho, investigou o… pic.twitter.com/KEmhBTYNna
— TALÍRIA 5077 (@taliriapetrone) September 8, 2026
Text reads: “The directors of the Federal Police making the position available, in solidarity with Andrei Rodrigues. Andrei, as head of the Federal Police, uncovered the murder of Marielle Franco, arrested the deputies of Rio involved with the Comando Vermelho, investigated the National Social Security Institute scheme and arrested Daniel Vorcaro. In other words, Andrei did an exemplary job. His dismissal, determined by André Mendonça, is not technical. It is political.”
This decision to remove the head of the Federal Police comes amid a strong clash between Minister André Mendoça and Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who last year sentenced the far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro to prison for coup actions. Information published in important media outlets in Brazil indicated that Mendoça, who was appointed as a minister of the Federal Supreme Court by Bolsonaro, was seeking to suspend De Moraes from the body until it is decided whether he should be investigated for corruption.
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