Brazil's Supreme Court Turns on Itself: A Justice Suspends the Federal Police Chief
On September 8, 2026, Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) entered a new phase of institutional crisis when Justice André Mendonça ordered the suspension of Federal Police Director-General Andrei Rodrigues and the force's intelligence chief, Leandro Almada. The STF's Second Panel (2ª Turma) — one of two small judging chambers within the court — formed a majority to back the removal of Rodrigues. Mendonça's preliminary injunction (known in Portuguese as a liminar, a fast-track order that takes immediate effect) remains in force despite a vista request from Justice Gilmar Mendes that paused further deliberation. A vista is a procedural move that lets a justice ask for more time to study a case before voting.
Mendonça accused Rodrigues and Almada of producing six illegal intelligence reports on the activities of Supreme Court justices. According to Mendonça, the reports were generated through the Federal Police's intelligence apparatus and formed the basis for his decision to remove both officials. He also ordered the suspension of the reports themselves (ConJur; Migalhas).
The suspensions are the latest escalation in an open rift between two sitting justices: Mendonça, appointed to the STF under President Jair Bolsonaro, and Alexandre de Moraes, appointed under President Michel Temer. The conflict has produced mutual accusations of wrongdoing. Moraes previously accused Mendonça of abusing his power, citing federal police intelligence reports and urging the court to open an investigation into his conduct. Mendonça, in turn, made public a report detailing possible links between Moraes and banker Daniel Vorcaro (Al Jazeera).
The sequence matters for understanding the escalation. Justice de Moraes released federal police intelligence reports targeting Mendonça, which Mendonça then cited as evidence of a misuse of the police apparatus. His order to remove Rodrigues followed directly from that chain of events (ConJur; Migalhas).
Before the Second Panel, Justice Gilmar Mendes requested a vista, asking for additional time to analyze the case. His request carries a 90-day deadline under STF procedural rules. It does not, however, alter the practical effect of Mendonça's liminar, which remains in force. Rodrigues is removed from the directorate of the Federal Police pending further review (Folha de S.Paulo; Jota).
The majority formed on the panel despite Mendes' vista means the panel has signaled its alignment with Mendonça's decision in principle, even as formal review continues. The 90-day window gives Mendes time to prepare a formal opinion, but the liminar's continuation ensures the suspensions take immediate operational effect.
The broader context here is a Supreme Court whose internal divisions have now spilled into the command structure of the Federal Police, an institution that operates under the Justice Ministry but whose leadership can be targeted by judicial action. When one justice uses intelligence reports produced by the police against another justice, and the targeted justice responds by suspending the police leadership, the result is a collision between two branches of the court's own supervisory authority. Each side claims the other has weaponized institutional tools; each side has produced a report or a legal action to substantiate that claim.
For those tracking Brazilian institutional dynamics, several elements stand out. The liminar mechanism allows a single justice to take immediate action subject to later ratification by a panel, which is what occurred here. The vista is a standard STF procedural tool that slows deliberation but does not freeze preliminary rulings. And the mutual accusations between Mendonça and Moraes have now created a situation in which each justice has effectively accused the other of conduct warranting investigation, with the Federal Police caught between them as both instrument and casualty of the dispute.
