Brazil Supreme Court Halts Session Again as Justices Feud

Brazil's Supreme Court called off its deliberations for a second consecutive session on Thursday, an unusual move that has laid bare the depth of the institution's political and institutional strain.

Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin ordered the cancellation and set the next sitting for Tuesday, a day on which the court does not normally convene. The full bench of 10 justices is expected to take up whether one of its members, Alexandre de Moraes, should face an investigation over alleged ties to the owner of the failed Banco Master, which was shut down after accusations of fraud.

The dispute became public on Sept. 1, when Justice André Mendonça, who was appointed by former president Jair Bolsonaro, unsealed federal police documents showing that banker Daniel Vorcaro had repeatedly sought legal advice from de Moraes. Relations between the two justices have deteriorated since.

De Moraes, a conservative, was widely praised by supporters of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after he sentenced Bolsonaro last year to 27 years in prison over an attempted coup. Mendonça served as Bolsonaro's solicitor-general before joining the country's top court.

Earlier this week, de Moraes responded by seeking an inquiry into what he described as an abuse of power by Mendonça for interviewing the banker without police officers or prosecutors present.

The fallout has reached the political arena. Both Lula and his rival in the coming elections, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president's son, are now calling for investigations into the Supreme Court justices along party lines.

The leadership of Brazil's federal police has also been drawn into the crossfire. Competing rulings from the court this week removed and then reinstated its director-general, amid the broader clash between the justices.

The turmoil is already spilling into October's national elections, with suspicions of graft, political bias and police interference hanging over several members of the court.