{"id":136123,"date":"2019-06-24T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=136123"},"modified":"2019-06-23T11:36:38","modified_gmt":"2019-06-23T10:36:38","slug":"their-little-show-brazilian-judge-in-corruption-case-mocked-lulas-defense-and-secretly-directed-prosecutors-media-strategy-during-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/06\/their-little-show-brazilian-judge-in-corruption-case-mocked-lulas-defense-and-secretly-directed-prosecutors-media-strategy-during-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTheir Little Show\u201d: Brazilian Judge in Corruption Case Mocked Lula\u2019s Defense and Secretly Directed Prosecutors\u2019 Media Strategy During Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leia em portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/p>\n

Operation Car Wash prosecutors followed Judge Sergio Moro\u2019s advice in order to \u201cbring comfort to the judge and take the lead to protect him.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ilustra\u00e7\u00e3o: Jo\u00e3o Brizzi and Rodrigo Bento\/The Intercept Brasil; Foto: Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom\/Ag\u00eancia Brasil<\/p><\/div>\n

Secret Brazil Archive:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Part 1: How and Why the Intercept Is Reporting on a Vast Trove of Materials about Brazil\u2019s Operation Car Wash and Justice Minister Sergio Moro \u2013 9 Jun 2019<\/a><\/em><\/h4>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Part 2: <\/em>Exclusive: Brazil\u2019s Top Prosecutors Who Indicted Lula Schemed in Secret Messages to Prevent His Party From Winning 2018 Election \u2013<\/em> 9 Jun 2019<\/a><\/h4>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Part 3: <\/em>Exclusive: Leaked Chats Between Brazilian Judge and Prosecutor Who Imprisoned Lula Reveal Prohibited Collaboration and Doubts Over Evidence<\/em> \u2013 9 Jun 2019<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 WATCH:<\/em> Glenn Greenwald Explains the Political Earthquake in Brazil Caused by Our Ongoing Expos\u00e9s \u2013 15 Jun 2019<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/h4>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Part 4: <\/em>Operation Car Wash prosecutors followed Judge Sergio Moro\u2019s advice in order to \u201cbring comfort to the judge and take the lead to protect him.\u201d<\/em> (Present article) \u2013 <\/em>17 Jun 2019<\/h4>\n

17 Jun 2019 – <\/em>Brazil\u2019s Justice Minister Sergio Moro, while serving as a judge in a corruption case that upended Brazilian politics, took to private chats to mock the defense of former Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva and direct prosecutors\u2019 media strategy, according to newly unearthed chats from an archive obtained by The Intercept Brasil<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The new revelations, which were published in Portuguese\u00a0by The Intercept Brasil on Friday<\/a>, have added fuel to a weeklong political firestorm in Brazil. The country\u2019s largest circulation newspaper, Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo, said the reporting suggests that officials \u201cignored the limits of the law<\/a>,\u201d while UOL, a news website, said<\/a> jurists view the revelations as \u201cgrave.\u201d The site quoted the head of a national criminal law association saying, \u201cThis is unthinkable in any democracy. It\u2019s\u00a0scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the newly revealed chats\u00a0with a senior prosecutor \u2014\u00a0a member of the team working on the Operation Car Wash corruption case \u2014 Moro said, \u201cMaybe, tomorrow, you should prepare a press release\u201d to point out inconsistencies in Lula\u2019s arguments, adding, \u201cThe defense already\u00a0put on their little show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should prepare a press release explaining the contradictions between his testimony and the rest of the evidence or with his previous testimony. After all, the defense already\u00a0put on their little show.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moro\u2019s advice was a major deviation from their previous communications strategy, but prosecutors did as he asked \u2014 further evidence of bias and unethical collaboration between the two parties in the case that sent Lula to prison on corruption charges, making the most popular politician<\/a> in Brazil ineligible to run in the 2018 presidential election.<\/p>\n

The newly published chats come from an archive of documents, provided to The Intercept Brasil by an anonymous source<\/a>, which includes years of private communications from the prosecutorial task force responsible for the Car Wash case, the largest anti-corruption investigation in Brazilian history.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, The Intercept published explosive group chats between Car Wash prosecutors and conversations between task force coordinator Deltan Dallagnol and Moro, showing that the then-judge and the prosecutors were unethically and inappropriately collaborating in secret<\/a>. Despite repeatedly insisting in public that they were acting ethically and impartially, the chats revealed that the judge was passing on advice, investigative leads, and inside information to the prosecutors \u2014 who were themselves plotting to prevent<\/a> Lula\u2019s Workers\u2019 Party from winning last year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

Lula, who had been the far and away favorite in election polls, was rendered ineligible by his conviction, and instead the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro handily won over Lula\u2019s replacement. Lula has maintained that he was not granted a fair trial. Moro is now Bolsonaro\u2019s justice minister.<\/p>\n

In an interview on Friday<\/a> with the Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo newspaper, Moro said, \u201cThe Brazilian legal tradition does not prevent personal contact and such conversations between judges, lawyers, detectives, and prosecutors.\u201d This type of communication is \u201cabsolutely normal,\u201d he added. However, the chats published by The Intercept Brasil show that the communication went far beyond \u201cpersonal contact\u201d and \u201cconversations\u201d to include directives as to how the prosecutors should operate inside and outside of the courtroom.<\/p>\n

The Car Wash task force refused to comment on the contents of this story. In a statement, Moro declined to\u00a0speak to\u00a0the substance of this article, but said, \u201cThe Minister of Justice and Public Security will not comment on alleged messages from public authorities collected through criminal invasion by hackers and that may have been tampered with and edited, especially without prior analysis by independent authorities that can certify their integrity. In the case in question, the alleged messages were not even sent previously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite repeatedly using the phrase \u201calleged messages,\u201d Moro acknowledged the authenticity <\/a>of at least one of the conversations this past Friday. Questioned during a press conference about having passed on an investigative lead<\/a> to prosecutors on December 7, 2015, Moro said it was an \u201coversight on my part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima talks about the 26th stage of the Lava Jato operation, called Xepa, during a press conference at the Superintendency of the Federal Police in Curitiba, Brazil, on March 22, 2016.
Photo: Heuler Andrey\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Defense Already Put on Their Little Show\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you think?\u201d It was 10:04 p.m. on May 10, 2017, and then-Judge Sergio Moro was using the Telegram messaging app to talk with Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima, a senior prosecutor in the Operation Car Wash task force. Moro had just wrapped up one of the most important days of his career and was looking for feedback.<\/p>\n

In a modest courtroom in the city of Curitiba, Moro had deposed Lula for more than five hours, as thousands of the former president\u2019s supporters protested outside. Later that day, video recordings of the unusual proceedings \u2014\u00a0unusual because former presidents are rarely tried on corruption charges and also because judges don\u2019t usually interrogate the accused for hours on end \u2014 were released to the public. Less than a year later, Moro would sentence Lula to more than nine years in prison for receiving a beachfront triplex apartment as a bribe for facilitating contracts with the state-run oil company Petrobras. But, for the moment, the judge was concerned about how the public was receiving the news about his interrogation of Lula.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it went really well,\u201d Santos Lima, the prosecutor, responded. \u201cHe started antagonizing us, which gave me some peace of mind. He contradicted himself in small details and didn\u2019t answer a lot of things, this is not well understood by the public.\u00a0You starting with the Triplex left him uneasy.\u201d The conversation continued:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moro \u2013 22:11 \u2013<\/strong> The communication is complicated, because the press does not pay much attention to details.<\/strong><\/p>\n

22:11 \u2013<\/strong> And some of them expect something conclusive.<\/strong><\/p>\n

22:12 \u2013<\/strong> Maybe, tomorrow, you should prepare a press release explaining the contradictions between his testimony and the rest of the evidence or with his previous testimony<\/strong><\/p>\n

22:13 \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Since\u00a0the defense already put on their little show.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Santos Lima \u2013 22:13 \u2013<\/strong> We can do this. I\u2019ll talk to the group.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moro \u2013 22:13 \u2013<\/strong> Think on it. I\u00a0haven\u2019t made up\u00a0my mind yet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Santos Lima \u2013<\/strong> 22:16 \u2013 I won\u2019t be here tomorrow. But the most important thing was to block the idea that he would be able to turn everything into his persecution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ten minutes after his last message to Moro, Santos Lima sent a request in the \u201cclippings analysis\u201d group chat, used by prosecutors to coordinate media strategy and monitor coverage together with two press aides:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Santos Lima \u2013 22:26:23 \u2013<\/strong> Do you think we can book an interview with someone from Globo in Recife tomorrow about today\u2019s hearings?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Aide 1 \u2013 22:28:19 \u2013<\/strong> It\u2019s possible, but I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s worth it. What about all the journalists here that already asked for an interview?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Aide 2 \u2013 22:28:32 \u2013<\/strong> But, sir, what\u2019s the reason?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Aide 2 \u2013 22:29:13 \u2013<\/strong> What\u2019s the need, actually..<\/strong><\/p>\n

Santos Lima \u2013 22:30:50 \u2013<\/strong> Just something I need taken care of.\u00a0How\u2019s\u00a0the repercussion of the lawyers\u2019 press conference?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Press Aide 2 \u2013 22:30:58 \u2013<\/strong> Typical procedure\u2026you never gave interviews about the hearings\u2026it will give reason for the defense to attack\u2026once again\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The press aide\u2019s surprise and confusion over the request demonstrates that Moro was\u00a0suggesting a dramatic shift in the Car Wash prosecutors\u2019 typical communications strategy. Up until that point, they had not been in the habit of commenting publicly on the trial proceedings.<\/p>\n

Santos Lima then forwarded his exchange with the judge to Car Wash coordinator Deltan Dallagnol, who responded in a group chat with other prosecutors:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dallagnol \u2013 22:46:46 \u2013<\/strong> So, we need to take into account the following points: 1) create comfort for the judge and take the spotlight to give him more protection and to shift the focus away from him; 2) to counterbalance the defense\u2019s show.<\/strong><\/p>\n

22:47:19 \u2013<\/strong> These are the reasons we should take into account, because no one is sure.<\/strong><\/p>\n

22:47:50 \u2013<\/strong> The \u201cwhat\u201d would be: to point out the contradictions of the testimony.<\/strong><\/p>\n

22:49:18 \u2013<\/strong> And the format, I agree, would have to be a press release, for protection and risk reduction. JN will still explore this tomorrow. If we do this, we would have to work intensely on this during the day to release it around 4 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Minutes later, Dallagnol chimed in to reinforce Santos Lima\u2019s request in the chat with the press aides , and the second press aide reiterated their objections more forcefully:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Press aide 2 \u2013 23:15:30 \u2013<\/strong> Those who attack us will keep attacking us. Those who don\u2019t will notice a change in behavior and will question it. It\u2019s part of the process. The way I see it, it\u2019s issuing an opinion about the case before its conclusion\u2026 and creating an opening to say that you are trying to influence the judge. Their role will be to make this a political issue. The press knows this. And they already know that you don\u2019t usually talk about the hearings. Changing your behavior will create the opportunity to raise other questions. Why did you decide to talk now? Because it was the ex-president? And bring back the narrative of persecution\u2026 it is what the defense did, does\u2026 because there is no way to refute the accusation. For the prosecution to use the same strategy might be shooting yourself in the foot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dallagnol also messaged Moro to congratulate him on his performance in court that day and discuss the judge\u2019s suggestion: \u201cCongratulations on keeping control of the hearing in such a serene and respectful way. We are pondering an eventual statement. GN [Globonews] just showed a series of contradictions and evasions. We\u2019re\u00a0keeping track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moro again suggested that the prosecutors consider issuing a statement to the press. He said, \u201cOK. I also have my doubts about the pertinence of a statement, but we should think about it due to the subtleties involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the Brazilian judicial system, the judge and the prosecution are required to operate independently to ensure a fair trial. However, in this case, Car Wash prosecutors spent hours crafting a communications strategy at the judge\u2019s\u00a0suggestion in order to, in the words of their leader, \u201ccomfort the judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors Deliver on Moro\u2019s Suggestion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following afternoon, the Car Wash prosecutors put out a statement attacking Lula\u2019s arguments and using the exact word Moro had suggested: contradictions. \u201cAs for the many verified contradictions in the questioning of ex-President Lula,\u201d read the statement. \u201c[T]he Federal Public Prosecutor will address this in due course, during the trial, particularly during closing arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media coverage was dominated by the prosecutors\u2019 allegations of contradictions. The Folha de S\u00e3o Paulo newspaper ran an article<\/a> the next day with the headline, \u201cLula\u2019s testimony had \u2018several contradictions\u2019, prosecutors say.\u201d Exame magazine ran a piece<\/a> titled, \u201cCar Wash task force sees contradictions in Lula\u2019s testimony.\u201d The Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo ran with<\/a> \u201cProsecutors accuse Lula\u2019s defense of lying in triplex case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santos Lima, the first prosecutor to receive Moro\u2019s\u00a0suggestion to speak out about the \u201ccontradictions\u201d in Lula\u2019s defense, did an interview<\/a> with Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s \u201cBroadcast Pol\u00edtico\u201d podcast, in which he said he did \u201cnot see any consistency\u201d in Lula\u2019s claims and defended Moro in response to the former president\u2019s criticisms.<\/p>\n

Later that night, 24 hours after Moro\u2019s initial suggestion, Dallagnol messaged the judge to inform him that they had submitted a petition \u201cmore for strategy\u201d that\u00a0was \u201cnot essential\u201d and that the judge \u201cshould feel free, it\u2019s unnecessary to say, to deny\u201d the request. He then went on to summarize their media strategy for the day. Brazil\u2019s biggest nightly news program, \u201cJornal Nacional,\u201d had just read their statement live on air:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dallagnol \u2013 22:16:26 \u2013<\/strong> I also want to inform you that we\u00a0discussed it since yesterday, over the course of the entire day, and we understand, unanimously and along with our press secretary, that the media was covering the contradictions well and that if we spoke out about it, it could make things worse. We passed along some relevant [points] to journalists. We decided to make a statement only addressing the false information, saying that we will focus on other contradictions in the closing arguments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moro \u2013 23:07:15 \u2013<\/strong> Cool, no worries, I\u2019m still preparing the decision but I\u2019m leaning towards denying it, yes<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

__________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Andrew Fishman<\/a><\/em> – <\/em>fishman@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Rafael Moro Martins<\/a><\/em> – <\/em>rafael.martins@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Leandro Demori<\/a><\/em> – <\/em>leandro.demori@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Glenn Greenwald<\/a> – <\/em>glenn.greenwald@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Amanda Audi<\/a> – <\/em>amanda.audi@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n

Research: Andr\u00e9 Souza<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theintercept.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

17 Jun 2019 – Brazil\u2019s Justice Minister Sergio Moro, while serving as a judge in a corruption case that upended Brazilian politics, took to private chats to mock the defense of former Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva and direct prosecutors\u2019 media strategy, according to newly unearthed chats from an archive obtained by The Intercept Brasil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":136124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[547,239,120,550,393,276,267,651,541,1134,234,109,287,985,921],"class_list":["post-136123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brics","tag-brazil","tag-brics","tag-conflict","tag-corruption","tag-coup","tag-democracy","tag-geopolitics","tag-justice","tag-latin-america-caribbean","tag-lula-da-silva","tag-media","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-social-justice","tag-whistleblowing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}