(Bloomberg) — The fate of Sergio Moro, the former judge behind Brazil’s biggest corruption investigation and a key member of President Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet, was still unclear hours after local media reported he had resigned from his post as justice minister.
Folha de S.Paulo newspaper said Moro tendered his resignation Thursday afternoon but Bolsonaro had yet to accepted it. The minister, who rose to fame fighting the country’s endemic corruption as head of the so-called Carwash probe, decided to step down after the president moved to replace Federal Police chief Mauricio Valeixo, according to the newspaper.
Hours later, Valor Economico reported the president backtracked from his decision to fire Valeixo, Moro’s right-hand man at the institution that’s akin to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. That persuaded the minister to stay on, the newspaper said.
Moro and the president’s office didn’t reply to requests for comment, and Bolsonaro avoided the topic entirely during his weekly live webcast on social media.
His departure would be a blow to Bolsonaro, who could lose “a huge element of support” if the minister were to step down, said Creomar De Souza, chief executive officer and founder of Brasilia-based consultancy Dharma Political Risk and Strategy.
The Brazilian real extended losses on the report as traders said it exacerbated political risk in Latin America’s largest economy. It ended the day with losses of 1.4%, the worst performing currency in emerging markets.
Super Minister
Enlisting Moro as a super minister in charge not only of the justice ministry but also public security was an early political victory for Bolsonaro. After Carwash toppled some of Brazil’s top politicians and business executives, including former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the then-judge had become a national hero whose image of anti-corruption crusader meshed well with Bolsonaro’s own law-and-order, new-politics approach.
In his first remarks after accepting the post in 2019, Moro promised to introduce bills to rid the country of its “culture of impunity” and consolidate the push against corruption started by the Carwash probe. But many his initiatives, including a sweeping anti-crime bill, were watered down or halted by political missteps and pushback from Congress.
Moro, whom Bolsonaro has described as a “national treasure,” was always viewed with suspicion by left-leaning groups — a perception that only grew as he took a job in the Bolsonaro administration after stopping Lula from running for president in 2018. Those divisions deepened last year following a steady drip of revelations by The Intercept website showing Moro appeared to guide prosecutors in securing a conviction in the Lula case. Moro denied any wrongdoing.
(Recasts with additional media report, comment from analyst in fifth paragraph)
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