Fachin predicts an immediate end to the fake news investigation as soon as he receives a request from the PGR

The PGR (Attorney General's Office) is expected to request the archiving of the fake news inquiry next week, paving the way for the president of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), Edson Fachin, to close one of the most controversial chapters in the court's recent history.

Opened in 2019, the investigation became one of the main instruments of power of the Supreme Court and, above all, of Minister Alexandre de Moraes, who used it to target allies of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and accumulate influence inside and outside the court. Now, according to interlocutors, Fachin wants to put an end to the case as soon as possible.

According to data obtained by Folha, the main investigation and its ramifications resulted in only eight complaints presented by the PGR and effectively linked to the initial motivation of the investigation: crimes of insult, slander, defamation or threats against STF ministers, in a wide range of procedures initiated by Moraes —including ex officio, that is, without a request from the Public Ministry.

Furthermore, this survey shows 220 filings and 11 cases sent to lower courts. The data also considers processes relating to the coup attacks of January 8, 2023, delivered to Moraes in a chain of connection with fake news. In this set, there would be 2,015 complaints against inciters, financiers and executors, in addition to those who blocked highways in the country after the results of the polls in 2022.

The initial inquiry alone, number 4,781, totals around 12 thousand pages. According to people familiar with the case, much of the material consists of prints from social networks, reports, statements and breaches of confidentiality, which include banking and telematics data.

The task of organizing this content and defining directions became one of the last chapters of the investigation. The Presidency's first mission was to digitize all the material, kept on paper by Moraes.

The lack of transparency was a striking feature. In May 2020, a Folha report showed that the full file was only accessible to the federal police officers involved and the rapporteur. Prosecutors, lawyers and even ministers had limited access. The situation is still being reported today.

Under reservation, a lawyer who has worked on the case since the beginning and represents a prominent figure said he "gave up" on requesting access to the files more than three years ago. According to him, Moraes responded to requests, in general, with photocopies of excerpts of the material or denied, stating that there were still steps to be taken. The client himself would have asked for the brakes: "If there had been materiality, a complaint would have been filed."

The inquiry was led by Moraes until September 9, when Fachin called it in with the aim of closing it. Days before, the minister had already publicly defended the measure as an institutional response to the court's crisis with the developments in the Banco Master case.

Moraes then sent the cases without a complaint filed to the Presidency: in total, 104. The minister is still conducting processes and, therefore, the complete universe of the fake news investigation remains unknown.

Information is not yet public about how many investigations were opened, what the targets were, how many have a special forum in the STF to justify proceedings in court, how many precautionary measures were determined — such as blocking of assets, social networks, prohibition of leaving the country —, which attacks on the STF were proven.

The president stated that all procedures will undergo individual analysis. Fachin has already been filing cases, such as against former federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro, pastor Silas Malafaia and journalist Guilherme Fiuza. At the end of October, Fachin closed five more derivative investigations. Among the reasons given were lack of evidence, statute of limitations and exhaustion of due diligence.

According to the presidency of the STF, through consultancy, at the moment "the priority is to evaluate compliance with the purpose of the investigation and the procedures linked to it". Next, the office must disclose the number of people involved, whether or not they have jurisdiction in court, the number of precautions and what type.

Fachin has already stated that he intends to guarantee wide publicity of the acts, respecting the legal limits of secrecy. The publication of a consolidated balance sheet would allow, for the first time, to evaluate results and the methods applied during the years of research.

But the measure also causes fear among STF interlocutors, precisely due to the volume of obscure information in the case file and the possibility of criticism against the court regaining momentum, as well as the possibility of questions about Moraes' conduct proving pertinent.

The filing should not mean that Moraes will be unarmed. The behind-the-scenes reading is that the minister should replicate the model of the fake news inquiry in other cases. None of them, however, has the breadth, exceptionality and ease of action of the first.

One example is the ADPF das Favelas, an action originally aimed at limiting police operations in Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of Bolsonarism. Under Moraes' rapporteurship, the process began to serve as the basis for the opening of autonomous and related investigations into organized crime.

Another possibility mentioned is the investigation against senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) and lawyer Willer Tomaz on suspicions of money laundering involving companies, betting platforms and financial transactions.

Over the years, the fake news inquiry was used to distribute other procedures to Moraes, without a draw, including investigations into digital militias, undemocratic acts and attacks on institutions, such as those on January 8th.

The investigation focused on episodes of great repercussion and different scopes. Still in April 2019, Moraes ordered the removal of a report from Crusoé magazine and the website O Antagonista about a mention of Dias Toffoli in a document related to the Lava Jato operation. The decision was later revoked.

In September of that year, former Attorney General of the Republic Rodrigo Janot was the target of search and seizure after revealing that he had considered killing Minister Gilmar Mendes. In May 2020, another operation targeted businesspeople, politicians and bloggers from the Bolsonarist environment, from the so-called “hate office”. In February 2021, then federal deputy Daniel Silveira was arrested after publishing a video threatening ministers.

More recently, Moraes targeted the leak of confidential data from ministers and their families in the context of the Banco Master case. The names of the victims were not disclosed, but Folha found that lawyer Viviane Barci, the minister's wife, was one of them.

The opening of the investigation provoked questions from the beginning. Critics pointed out that the court simultaneously assumed the position of victim of the alleged crimes, responsible for the investigation and judging body.

But Moraes had the support of a large part of the court during this period. Ministers saw the investigation as a protective shield for the STF in the face of the escalation of the extreme right. In recent months, however, even colleagues who recognized its role began to discuss the need to close it.