Moro: Defense criticizes judge for questioning escort expenses – 04/03/2024 – Power

Sergio Moro’s lawyer (União Brasil-PR) in the actions that could lead to the senator’s impeachment criticized the vote of judge José Rodrigo Sade, who considers that security expenses need to be taken into account when analyzing pre-election campaign expenses.

The former judge is the target of two actions in the TRE (Regional Electoral Court) of Paraná, presented by PT and PL, which accuse him of abuse of economic power in the 2022 electoral dispute. The score of the trial is tied at 1 to 1, and it will resume on Monday (8).

The only one to vote this Wednesday (3), Sade understood that there was abuse and voted in favor of canceling Moro’s ticket, in addition to defending his ineligibility and that of the first substitute, Luis Felipe Cunha (União Brasil).

“The part that caught my attention most about the vote [de Sade] was not to disregard security expenses. If this vote prevails, the candidate threatened with death will have to choose: ‘Either I will be killed, or I will not be a candidate or I will be impeached'”, said lawyer Gustavo Guedes after the second day of the former judge’s trial.

According to the parliamentarian’s defender, “all the security value in a pre-campaign, if added later, makes the candidacy unfeasible.”

“Currently, with this level of polarization and insecurity, threatening both sides, former president [Jair] Bolsonaro stabbed, President Lula’s entourage being shot here in Paraná, and Moro the target of a PCC plan, it seems to me that it is not appropriate, in the current Brazilian situation, to consider spending on security under penalty of having tragedies involving Brazilian democracy”, he added .

PT lawyer Luiz Eduardo Peccinin praised the vote, in contrast to the rapporteur’s statement.

“We understand that the dissenting vote [de Sade] It was important to overcome some things that seemed to be absolute truth in the rapporteur’s vote, such as saying, for example, that it would be necessary to prove that the salmon that was eaten with money from the party fund was converted into a vote for the benefit of the candidate”, he said.

Sade was appointed by President Lula to the post in February. He appeared on the triple list sent by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) to the Presidency with names for the seat, after it became vacant with the end of Judge Thiago Paiva dos Santos’ term.

Cláudia Cristina Cristofani, who would be the third to vote, asked for a review (more time for analysis) and committed to casting her vote in next Monday’s session. As a result, the session was suspended with a score of 1-1.

Last Monday (1st), rapporteur Luciano Carrasco Falavinha voted to dismiss the impeachment request and, therefore, to acquit Moro. He also considered that security expenses should not be counted.

“It is clear that hiring personal security is not capable of promoting candidacy and attracting votes; on the contrary, it may even represent an obstacle to approaching the electorate”, argued the rapporteur.

According to Sade, the decisive basis for including such expenditure as a campaign expense stems from Moro’s own testimony. “He recognized that, far from being an electoral indifferent, his strong security scheme financed with public money was, in reality, an essential condition for carrying out his campaign.”

The judge stated that “almost R$600,000 in public money” ended up making the current senator’s pre-campaign viable, “a benefit that the other candidates did not have, hence the obvious imbalance.”

“Not all expenses incurred by parties and candidates, whether in the campaign or pre-campaign, are aimed directly, immediately, at obtaining votes. There are many expenses of an instrumental nature but which, in the end, will help in campaign strategy development,” said Sade.

One of the controversies throughout the process is the definition of what expenses would or would not be pre-campaign.

Throughout his vote on Monday, Falavinha brought the sum of around R$ 224.8 thousand for Moro’s pre-campaign acts for the position of senator for Paraná, pointing out that the amount corresponds to 5% of the ceiling of campaign expenses for the position in the state. Expenses on security and escort, among other items, were disregarded by the rapporteur.

In the Public Ministry’s calculation, the expenses total, at least, just over R$2 million – an amount still lower than the sums made by PL and PT. Moro’s defense, which only takes into account the pre-campaign for the Senate, spoke of expenses of R$ 141 thousand.