Brazil Supreme Court Judge Demands Access to Secret 'Fake News' Files
Justice Luiz Fux orders unrestricted access to highly classified investigations led by Alexandre de Moraes, potentially impacting cases against Jair Bolsonaro.
On October 8, 2026, Brazil Supreme Court Justice Luiz Fux ordered the court's registry to hand over full, unrestricted access to four highly sensitive, classified investigations led by fellow Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The court's technical and judicial registry has been given a strict 48-hour deadline to deliver all volumes, media, and sealed decisions to Fux's office. The sudden order directly targets some of the most controversial judicial inquiries in modern Brazilian history, including the infamous "Fake News" and "Digital Militias" investigations.
The requested files also include the "Tempus Veritatis" probe, which investigated an alleged 2022 coup plot and ultimately contributed to the conviction of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. The legal maneuver stems from a constitutional challenge filed in 2024 by the Progressistas (PP) party—close allies of Bolsonaro's family, including his son, presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. The PP's lawsuit seeks to annul the evidence and investigations overseen by Moraes, arguing that the procedures bypassed constitutional guarantees and lacked proper legal distribution.
The timing of the order introduces a major variable into Brazil's highly polarized political environment. The country is currently in the middle of a high-stakes presidential runoff campaign. To prevent the judicial clash from directly throwing the election into chaos, Fux has signaled to close allies that he will not issue a final ruling on the suspension or annulment of the cases until after the October 25 presidential runoff.
A Deepening Institutional Rift
This development exposes a growing internal rift within the Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), Brazil's supreme court. For years, Justice Alexandre de Moraes has wielded extraordinary, centralized power over classified inquiries aimed at protecting democratic institutions from online disinformation and alleged coup plots. However, critics and political opponents have frequently accused Moraes of overreaching and creating a "regime of exception".
In his written order, Fux pointedly challenged the exclusive control Moraes has maintained over these cases. "The records of a case belong to the Court, not to the Justice who reports them," Fux wrote, adding that judicial secrecy cannot be used to shield proceedings from the constitutional oversight of other judges.
The decision came just two days after top officials from the Federal Police, including Director-General Andrei Rodrigues, held an unannounced meeting with Moraes at his supreme court office. While the details of that meeting remain undisclosed, Fux's subsequent order signals a coordinated push by the court's moderate wing to review the legality of Moraes's unilateral methods.
What Happens Next
The immediate next step is the physical and electronic transfer of thousands of pages of highly classified evidence to Fux's cabinet. Once Fux reviews the material, he will decide whether to grant the PP's request to suspend the ongoing investigations or refer the case to the full court plenary.
The Supreme Court's current Chief Justice, Edson Fachin, has previously expressed a desire to bring the long-running "Fake News" inquiry to a formal close. Fux's review could provide the legal mechanism to do exactly that. If Fux finds procedural illegalities in how Moraes initiated the probes, it could dismantle the primary legal scaffolding used against Jair Bolsonaro and his political allies, fundamentally reshaping the legal and political landscape of Brazil.