Moro: Trial on possible revocation begins on Monday – 03/31/2024 – Power

The trial of the process that could lead to the impeachment of senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) is on the agenda of the TRE (Regional Electoral Court) of Paraná this Monday (1st). The collegiate session begins at 2 pm and must be fully dedicated to discussing the legal action targeting the former Lava Jato judge – no other proceedings are scheduled for that date.

In addition to Monday’s meeting, two other days — April 3 and 8 — were reserved on the court calendar to deal with the matter, if necessary.

Led by the PT and the PL, the legal action points out, among other things, that Moro had made excessive expenses during the pre-election campaign linked to the last election, which the senator’s defense denies.

The two parties filed individual representations against Moro at the TRE at the end of 2022, but, due to the similarities in the content of the accusations, they ended up unified by decision of the TRE in June 2023. Since then, they have been processed jointly in court.

The trial this Monday should begin with the analysis of the case’s rapporteur, judge Luciano Falavinha, who informed that he has had his vote ready since January 30th. His position on the matter, however, remains unknown. He must only disclose his vote on Monday itself.

If they understand that they need more time to say whether or not they agree with the rapporteur, the other judges can request a review (more time for analysis), postponing the vote. Despite this, the expectation of the president of the TRE, Sigurd Roberto Bengtsson, is to conclude the vote within the three scheduled sessions at the latest.

Regardless of the result, the outcome of the action will be up to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), since both the parties and Moro’s defense are interested in appealing to the higher court, in the event of defeat in the regional court.

The president of the TRE believes that the process involving the senator should arrive in Brasília at the beginning of May. The estimate takes into account the maximum date scheduled for trial in the local court – until April 8 – plus any embargoes, which are a type of appeal generally used only to clarify some point of the decision already taken.

If in the end the Electoral Court considers the action against Moro to be valid, the consequences would be the revocation of the ticket (that is, the loss of the mandate) and ineligibility for eight years, counting from the 2022 election. In other words, Moro would be “registered” dirty” by the year 2030. There would also be a new election in Paraná for the Senate seat.

Moro joined Podemos at the end of 2021 with an eye on the presidential contest. In March 2022, he left the party, announcing his affiliation with União Brasil and a candidacy for the Senate for São Paulo. In June, after the Electoral Court barred the change of electoral domicile to São Paulo, he announced that he would be a candidate for the Senate from Paraná.

Therefore, PT and PL point out that pre-campaign spending, initially aimed at the dispute for the Planalto Palace, became “disproportionate” and “suppressed the chances of other competitors” for the Senate in Paraná.

Moro’s defense maintains that the expenses incurred between November 2021 and the beginning of June 2022 could not even be considered, precisely because the pre-candidate was aiming for other positions. It also argues that the electoral victory took place in the face of all the political capital obtained by the former judge since Lava Jato, concluding that there was no relevant impact of pre-campaign spending on the result.

In the Paraná court, there will be seven judges in total — the president, who usually votes only in cases of a tie, anticipated that he will record his position. He states that there is an understanding by the TSE that the president must vote in cases where there is the possibility of revocation of office.

In addition to the president and the rapporteur, magistrates Anderson Ricardo Fogaça, Guilherme Frederico Hernandes Denz, Julio Jacob Junior, José Rodrigo Sade and Claudia Cristina Cristofani should participate.

The representative of the Public Ministry, prosecutor Marcelo Godoy, must also attend the session. He has already spoken out in favor of Moro’s impeachment, but also pointed out disagreements regarding the representations of the parties that filed the lawsuits.

Although it assesses that there was abuse of economic power, the opinion does not see, for example, improper use of the media, as suggested by the acronyms.

Another difference is in the volume of pre-campaign spending. In the calculation made by the Public Ministry, Moro’s pre-campaign cost, at least, just over R$2 million. The PL, in turn, calculates that it would have been R$7.6 million, while the PT points out R$4.8 million. Moro’s defense talks about modest expenses and indicates R$ 141 thousand in the pre-campaign.

The variations arise from the different criteria adopted regarding what should or should not be considered pre-campaign spending and what would actually be an expense linked to the former judge or the group of pre-candidates of the acronyms.

The expenses are diverse: there are expenses for consultancy, research, audiovisual services, travel, accommodation, rental and purchase of an armored car, political and legal advice.

“The fairness and legitimacy of the election were undeniably compromised by the excessive use of financial resources in the period leading up to the electoral campaign, as amounts were applied that, by all objective parameters that can be adopted, far exceed the limits of reasonable “, says an excerpt from the Attorney General’s opinion.

Moro’s lawyer, Gustavo Guedes, says that there is a list of acts that can be carried out by parties before the official campaign, without them being identified as early electoral propaganda, but that there is no clear rule about the “pre-election” period. campaign” and what the spending limit would be.

PT and PL say that although the legislation does not deal in detail with the pre-campaign period, there is already jurisprudence in the TSE indicating that excessive spending cannot be tolerated even before the official campaign, which took place between August and October 2022. The example The most emblematic, according to them, would have been the impeachment of Senator Selma Arruda.

By 6 votes to 1, the TSE revoked the mandate of Judge Selma (Podemos-MT) at the end of 2019, understanding that there was abuse of economic power and also illicit fundraising linked to the 2018 electoral campaign. there was an omission of significant amounts used to pay campaign expenses in the pre-election period.