Former judge Sergio Moro announces his resignation from the Ministry of Justice and leaves the Bolsonaro government | Politics

The resignation was motivated by Bolsonaro’s decision to replace the director general of the Federal Police, Maurício Valeixo, appointed to the post by the now former minister. The Federal Police is linked to the Justice portfolio.

In summary, Moro stated in the statement that:

• he was surprised by the publication in the “Official State Gazette” of the dismissal of the director general of the Federal Police;
• that President Jair Bolsonaro did not give a specific reason to remove Mauricio Valeixo;
• that Valeixo’s resignation was not made “on demand”, as published in the “Official Gazette” and that he, Moro, did not sign the resignation, although the name of the then minister appears in the publication;
• that Bolsonaro admitted that the change is political interference because he intends to have someone in the PF who will provide him with information about the investigations and consultations under way in the Federal Supreme Court; for Moro, this is not the responsibility of the PF;
• that upon assuming the post of minister, after leaving 22 years of magistracy, Bolsonaro had promised “carte blanche” to elect and appoint auxiliaries.

In announcing the resignation, in a statement this Friday morning at the Ministry of Justice, Moro said he told Bolsonaro that he did not oppose the change of command in the PF, as long as the president presented a reason for it.

“President, I have no problem in exchange for the director, but I need a cause, [como, por exemplo], a serious mistake, “said Moro.

Moro also said that the problem is not the exchange itself, but the reason why Bolsonaro took action. According to the now former minister, Bolsonaro wants to “gather” information within the PF, such as intelligence reports.

“The president told me more than once, expressly, that he wanted to have a person from his personal contact, who could call, who could collect information, who could collect intelligence reports, be a director, be a superintendent. And he really is not the role of the Federal Police is to provide this type of information, “he declared.

Moro compared the situation with the period in which he carried out the procedures of Operation Lava Jato as judge:

“Imagine if during Lava Jato itself, the minister, the CEO, the president, and then President Dilma, the former president, called the superintendent in Curitiba to gather information about the ongoing investigations?” He asked.

According to Sergio Moro, the autonomy of the Federal Police “is a fundamental value that we must preserve within the rule of law.”

According to Moro’s report, he told Bolsonaro that the change of command in the PF would be political interference in the corporation. The now-former minister said the president admitted that.

“I told the president that it would be political interference. He said it would be,” Moro said.

Moro said Bolsonaro has been trying to change the PF command since last year.

“From the second semester [de 2019] there was an insistence from the president to change the PF command. ”

Moro said he leaves the ministry to preserve his own biography and not contradict his commitment to Bolsonaro: that the government would be firm in the fight against corruption.

“I have to preserve my biography, but above all I have to preserve the commitment with the president that we would be firm in the fight against corruption, the autonomy of the FP against political interference,” he declared.

‘I did not sign a resignation’

Moro also stated that, contrary to what appears in the “Official State Gazette”, he did not sign Valeixo’s resignation, nor did the PF general director ask him to leave.

The publication contains the signature of the then minister and the information that Valeixo left “on request”.

“I did not sign this decree and at no time did the director of the PF make an official request for dismissal,” he said.

According to Moro, the Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency (Secom) lied when he said on a social network that the dismissal was “on demand”.

“The fact is, no formal request was made. Honestly, I was shocked, I thought it was offensive. I saw after Secom confirmed that there was an on-demand waiver, but that’s actually not true,” he said.

He also said that this fact showed that Bolsonaro wanted to see him out of government.

“For me, this last act is a sign that the President really wants me out of the office.”

At another point in the announcement, Moro said Bolsonaro expressed concern about ongoing investigations in the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

He did not specify what the investigations are about. According to Moro, the exchange in the FP would be “opportune” for Bolsonaro due to these investigations.

“The President also informed me that he was concerned about the ongoing investigations in the Supreme Federal Court and that the exchange would also be timely for the Federal Police for this reason. It is not a reason to justify the replacement, it is even something that causes great concern. “Moro said.

Moro also said that when Bolsonaro invited him to the ministry, the president gave him “carte blanche” to name whoever he wanted, including for the command of the Federal Police.

“At that time I was promised to appoint all advisers, including judicial bodies, such as the Federal Highway Police and the Federal Police,” said the now-former minister.

In the ad, Moro was moved and his voice cracked. It was then when he said that he had asked the president for a single condition to take office: that his family earn a pension if something serious happened to him in the exercise of his function.

“I only put one condition. I was not going to reveal it, but now it doesn’t make sense. I said that, while leaving the judiciary, I contributed for 22 years, I asked that if something happened to me, my family would not be defenseless.” Moro said.

Resignation of the director of PF

Moro was surprised by the publication of Valeixo’s resignation this Friday. He said he did not sign the resignation, despite the fact that his name appeared, along with Bolsonaro’s name, in the act that made Valeixo’s official license.

Moro was announced as Bolsonaro’s minister in November 2018, shortly after the presidential elections. The magistrate gained notoriety as a judge of the Operation Lava Jato cases, including the one that condemned former President Lula in the Guarujá triplex case.

On the occasion, Bolsonaro guaranteed Moro’s autonomy by choosing second and third level positions. The minister would have “carte blanche” in the fight against corruption.

“We talked for about 40 minutes and he [Moro] He explained what he intends to do if he is a minister and I agreed with 100% of what he proposed. I wanted complete freedom to fight corruption and organized crime, and a ministry with the power to do it, “Bolsonaro said at the time.

“It is an important ministry and it was even made very clear in a conversation between us that anyone who appears in the police news will be investigated and will not suffer any interference from me,” Bolsonaro added.

After the beginning of the government, Moro and Bolsonaro had a relationship marked by episodes of interference by the president in the ministry. Bolsonaro went so far as to say that he had veto power in the portfolios, because he is the “head of the government.”

One of the interference episodes occurred in February 2018, when Moro, after Bolsonaro’s complaint, revoked the appointment of Ilona Szabó for the National Council for Penal and Penitentiary Policy.

Political scientist, teacher in conflicts and peace studies at the University of Uppsala (Sweden) and founder of the Igarapé Institute, Ilona Szabó worked at the NGO Viva Rio and was one of the coordinators of the national disarmament campaign.

Bolsonaro is in favor of facilitating the population’s access to weapons and ignored the suggestions made by the Minister of Justice for the arms decree.

PF’s situation also shook the relationship between Bolsonaro and Moro. The president has intended since last year to remove Valeixo from command of the agency.

Career delegate, Valeixo was superintendent of the FP in Paraná and worked in Lava Jato. The experience led him to be chosen by Moro to lead the PF.

Moro’s freedom to choose Valeixo and the regional FP superintendents was gradually undermined. In August 2018, without realizing the Federal Police summit, Bolsonaro announced the change of the superintendent of Rio de Janeiro.

The speech generated a threat of handing over positions in the FP. The change in the superintendency occurred, but Moro and Valeixo continued in their functions.

The relationship between the minister and the president was also shaken, according to the newspaper “O Globo”, because Moro asked the president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Dias Toffoli, to review a decision that restricted the exchange of Coaf reports. . with public ministries and the federal police.

The minister’s move angered President Jair Bolsonaro, as the preliminary order responded to a request by the defense of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PSL-RJ), the president’s son.

A Coaf report pointed to unusual movements by Fabrício Queiroz, former adviser to Flávio Bolsonaro in the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly. The defense argued that the data of these movements was transmitted to the Prosecutor’s Office without judicial authorization.

In the case of Coaf, the transfer of the organ to the Central Bank caused the fall of one of Moro’s main allies in Lava Jato, the auditor Roberto Leonel, who was fired from command of the structure.

With the new coronavirus pandemic, Moro and Bolsonaro gave other signs of mismatch.

Moro defended isolation in public speeches as a way to try to contain the contagion, more in line with what former Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said.

Bolsonaro, in turn, talks about isolating only the elderly and people with chronic diseases. It predicts the return of commerce, the resumption of classes and the reopening of the borders with Uruguay and Paraguay.

Seen by political analysts as a possible candidate for the plateau in 2022, since the election to head the Justice portfolio, Moro imagined himself as a possible candidate by Bolsonaro for the two vacancies in the STF that will be opened with the withdrawals of the ministers Celso de Mello and Marco Aurélio Mello.

Bolsonaro used to praise Moro’s profile, but he also declared his desire to appoint a “terribly evangelical” minister to the Court.

Born in 1972 in Maringá, in the north of Paraná, Moro gained visibility as a judge in the 13th Federal Criminal Court of Curitiba, specialized in financial crimes and money laundering.

He became known nationally for being the judge responsible for the Lava Jato cases in the trial court.

Before the operation, Moro worked on the Banestado case and served as assistant to the Minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Rosa Weber in 2012, in the case of PT Mensalão.

Operation Lava Jato, which had its first phase launched on March 17, 2014, began with the investigation of money laundering at a service station and reached a criminal scheme of fraud, corruption and money laundering in Petrobras. Later, the action reached other state companies.

In more than four years at Lava Jato, the magistrate convicted 46 cases, which convicted 140 people for crimes such as corruption, money laundering and criminal organization.

Among the politicians convicted by the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba are former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and deputy and former mayor Eduardo Cunha (MDB).