Depending on whom you ask, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is either a hero who protected Brazil’s democracy, or a villain who used authoritarian measures to target the far right.
In a series of polarizing decisions, Justice Moraes cracked down on online falsehoods, punished rioters who falsely claimed the last election had been stolen and sentenced the former president, Jair Bolsonaro, on charges of trying to retain power after he lost the last election.
But earlier this year, the justice’s reputation was shattered when he was publicly linked to a banker accused of fraud. According to a leaked police dossier, Justice Moraes had exchanged text messages with the banker, who was seeking help in avoiding arrest and mentioned paying millions to a law firm run by the justice’s wife. The police have never said if Justice Moraes responded to the request or helped the banker in some way.
Still, the revelation has become a major issue in the presidential election being decided on Sunday.
For starters, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a leftist, was saddled with the fallout of the scandal at the Supreme Court that tarnished Justice Moraes, his ally.
But the scandal has also galvanized many right-leaning voters in their support for Jair Bolsonaro’s son, Flávio, who is challenging Mr. Lula for the presidency. Mr. Bolsonaro used the scandal to whip up support in his stump speeches.
“To vote for Lula is to vote for Alexandre de Moraes,” Mr. Bolsonaro recently told a crowd of supporters. “And I’m not going to let that happen.”
“It gave Flávio’s campaign a simple slogan,” said Luciano da Ros, a Brazilian political scientist. “And it united different segments on the right around a powerful common enemy.”
Mr. Lula, eager to shield his campaign, has tried to distance himself from Justice Moraes. “Nobody is above the law,” he said in an interview. He urged an investigation into the justice’s conduct and a broad judicial overhaul.
