Supreme Court justice calls off speech amid internal tension

Justice Alexandre de Moraes cancelled a scheduled press address at the Supremo Tribunal Federal in Brasília on the morning of September 10 amid escalating judicial disputes. Court officials confirmed the sudden decision shortly before journalists gathered inside the tribunal building.

Staff members of Moraes released only the designated time without distributing an agenda to reporters before postponing the session to an opportune date.

Court members indicated behind closed doors that Moraes planned to answer challenges regarding his management of the fake news probe. The justice prepared to present a broad summary of recent investigative findings to confront criticisms.

Moraes called the press conference twenty-four hours after Chief Justice Edson Fachin issued formal administrative orders to halt widening procedural disputes inside the court.

Fachin stripped Moraes of direct supervision over cases linked to the disinformation inquiries. The chief justice transferred all related petitions to the court presidency. This shift concentrated authority under Fachin’s direct office.

The Supremo Tribunal Federal launched the fake news inquiry in 2019 to investigate threats, false crime reports, fraudulent content, and defamatory attacks targeting justices and family members. That procedural dossier remains active.

Chief justice reassigns inquiries to presidential docket

On September 9, Edson Fachin argued that the tribunal’s leadership had to preserve the integrity of the court amid overlapping procedural conflicts, an impasse requiring immediate institutional intervention to restore order across judicial workflows and prevent further internal clashes among sitting justices.

Institutional tension began around cases connected to Banco Master and intensified after the Polícia Federal forwarded text messages recovered from Daniel Vorcaro’s mobile phone. The newly submitted records generated immediate jurisdictional disagreements among members of the court.

The seized transcripts explicitly cited communications directed to Moraes, prompting colleagues to question the division of judicial competence and procedural boundaries across the court.

Rulings signed by Moraes, André Mendonça, and Flávio Dino collided with reports filed by the Polícia Federal and briefs submitted by the Procuradoria-Geral da República. These competing legal stances deepened disputes between the authorities.

Escalating institutional friction led Fachin to take control of the matter directly. The chief justice invoked internal authority to consolidate all related case files. Fachin placed the entire set of records under the jurisdiction of the Supremo Tribunal Federal presidency.

Fachin scheduled an in-person plenary hearing for September 15 to review the case material submitted by the Polícia Federal, an evaluation that will determine the course of the investigations.

The canceled press conference would have marked Moraes’s first public remarks following the administrative reorganization ordered on September 10. The speech was halted.