Brazil court crisis deepens as justice orders federal police chief suspended

RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Brazil's escalating Supreme Court crisis deepened on Tuesday as Justice Andre Mendonca ordered the suspension of federal police chief Andrei Rodrigues, citing the alleged production of intelligence reports publicized by fellow Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

The move marks a dramatic new chapter in an unprecedented conflict that has engulfed Brazil's top court, already weighing whether to investigate two of its own members amid competing allegations of misconduct.

Mendonca last week disclosed a report raising questions ⁠about alleged contacts between Moraes and a banker accused of leading a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme, prompting calls for an investigation of the justice.

Moraes responded by seeking an investigation into Mendonca for alleged abuse of authority, citing federal police reports that Mendonca has now challenged as illegal.

The Federal Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a ruling seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Mendonca said that the "exceptional gravity and illegality" surrounding the intelligence reports allegedly involving Rodrigues required immediate action.

"The superlative gravity and ⁠illegality in the production of the 'intelligence reports' publicized by Justice Alexandre de Moraes imposes the adoption of immediate measures," Mendonca wrote, arguing that judicial and police functions risked continuing to be "vilified."

He ordered the preventive suspension of Rodrigues, the director-general of the Federal Police, and Leandro ⁠Almada, the agency's intelligence chief.

Mendonca said the measures were necessary to preserve the institutional independence of the judiciary and ensure that justices, the solicitor general and police officials could perform ⁠their duties free from "illegal constraints."

The ruling further intensifies an open confrontation between Mendonca, a nominee of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and Moraes -- one of Brazil's most ⁠polarizing figures, who pursued Bolsonaro over a 2023 coup plot and won his conviction in 2025.

Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro and Ricardo Brito in Brasilia; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Brendan O'Boyle

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Ricardo Brito

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Ricardo Brito has covered Brazilian politics for over two decades, including five presidential elections, an impeachment, and Car Wash, one of the world's largest corruption scandals. Brito joined Reuters in 2017, covering politics, courts, offenses, Indigenous communities, and the environment. Recently, he has focused on investigations into the alleged attempted coup against Brazilian democracy in 2022 and crime in the Amazon rainforest. He won two well-known Brazilian awards, Abril (2008) and Estadao (2015), and was a finalist for 'Breaking News of the Year' in 2022 for coverage of Brazil's presidential bid. He once dreamed of being a basketball star, but has since resigned to being a Lakers fan.