Lula appoints judge who signaled vote against Moro in Paraná – 05/28/2023 – Power

President Lula (PT) passed over the name supported by his defenders and chose for the TRE (Regional Electoral Court) of Paraná a lawyer who, on trips through Brasília, waved to PT politicians with the possibility of voting against the former judge and Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) in the process that may result in the impeachment of his mandate.

Lawyer Julio Jacob Junior, appointed by Lula on April 20, is linked to former Tucano governor Beto Richa, whose governments he was a member of, and defeated the hitherto favorite for the position —Andrea Sabbaga de Melo, former partner of lawyer Manoel Caetano, who is a friend and supporter of Lula.

Sabbaga had even occupied the TRE of Paraná during the government of PT Dilma Rousseff.

In addition to running out of the race, Jacob had public criticism against him that he had made to the PT, including insinuation of sabotage in the air crash that led to the death of presidential candidate Eduardo Campos (PSB) in 2014.

In addition to Jacob and Sabbaga, the name of Gustavo Kfouri also made up the triple list submitted to the Lula government, but he was a card off the deck for being the lawyer of former deputy Fernando Francischini (União Brasil-PR) and the favorite of Bolsonaristas.

Before Lula’s decision, Jacob made a tour of Brasília, which included meeting with ministers’ advisors, with the PT president, Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), with the leader of the party in the Chamber, Zeca Dirceu (PR), and with the president of the Chamber’s Justice Commission, Rui Falcão (PT-SP).

His name was also submitted to a board composed of the heads of the Civil House, Rui Costa, Secretariat for Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, Justice, Flávio Dino, and AGU (Attorney General of the Union), Jorge Messias.

In conversations, he presented himself as a lawyer without political ties, guarantor, legalist and attentive to the law.

According to reports, when asked directly about the requests for the revocation of Moro’s mandate, presented by the PL and the PT, Jacob stated that, if there is proof of non-compliance with the electoral law, he will not fail to vote for the removal of the former judge because of of your resume, number of votes or pressure from public opinion.

In conversations, Jacob came to define himself, among the candidates, as the only one capable of forwarding a dissenting vote if the rapporteur of Moro’s impeachment request votes for the dismissal of the representation against Moro.

His move took place amid publications by Sabbaga’s husband, Sandro Rafael Bonatto, with strong criticism of Lula and the PT, including the statement that the government represents a setback in the country.

A Sheet sought out the new member of TRE from Paraná, but he did not want to speak out.

The representations against Moro ask the Electoral Justice of Paraná to revoke the senator’s mandate on the grounds of alleged irregularities in campaign spending.

Interlocutors Jacob says he spoke with Moro’s lawyer after his appointment, in April.

According to these reports, Jacob said that the senator would have nothing to worry about if he was calm with the evidence being produced in the analysis of the representation.

The current phase is the production of evidence. Among the accusations is that of spending above the limits established by the electoral law. For the dispute for the Senate of Paraná, the ceiling was R$ 4.4 million. Moro declared an expense of BRL 5.2 million, according to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) website.

Moro denies any wrongdoing.

Jacob’s appointment took place at a time when there was a bet on the presentation of an opinion on the groundlessness of the representation, under the rapporteurship of the judge Mário Helton Jorge.

Appointed rapporteur for the case, Helton ended up submerging after the repercussions of his speech, during a session in April, in which he stated that Paraná “has a higher cultural level than the North and Northeast” and that it is a place that does not have the “political game of other states “.

Helton Jorge will leave TRE on July 4th. Colleague D’Artagnan Serpa Sá should report the case.

Jacob took office at the TRE on the 3rd. In his speech, he stated that the Electoral Justice of Paraná is “a model for guaranteeing democracy and the democratic rule of law”.

This Monday (29), the formal celebration of his inauguration will be held. Also on Monday should be chosen two new members of the court, which has seven members. In Paraná, politicians are attentive to the new composition of the court.

Jacob held public office in the management of Richa, Cida Borghetti (PP) and Ratinho Júnior (PSD), including the presidency of Copel Participações and legal director of Sanepar.

His supporters even used this trajectory as an argument in favor of the nomination, stating that he could not be characterized as a petista in case of an unfavorable vote for Moro.

As shown to SheetMoro believes that he will be the new target of the Electoral Justice after the impeachment of federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol (Podemos-PR).

The two acted in Operation Lava Jato in the past decade. Moro was a judge and Deltan, coordinator of the prosecutor’s task force.

Moro’s tension is justified: in higher courts, his conviction is taken for granted.

Deltan’s mandate was revoked on the 16th, according to a unanimous decision by the TSE. It was 7 votes to 0.

The decision has immediate effect for the loss of office, but the Chamber still needs to follow a constitutional rite to effect the impeachment, which has not yet happened.

The decision against the ex-prosecutor was taken after representation of the Federation Brasil da Esperança, composed of PT, PC do B, PV and PMN, under the argument of the impossibility of the then prosecutor to have left his career in the Public Prosecutor’s Office while responding to a series of unions in the body.

Even out of office, the impeached parliamentarian can still appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. He said he was outraged by the TSE’s decision and that an “unprecedented revenge” is underway in Brazil against “agents of the law who dared to fight corruption”.