“I would never go into politics. There’s no risk of that happening,” said Federal Judge Sérgio Moro on November 5, 2016. The overseer of Operation Car Wash added: “I am a judge, I’m in another world, another kind of work – I am a different type of person.”
Two years later, Mr. Moro has apparently decided to change worlds and go into politics. On Thursday, he accepted an invitation from President-elect Jair Bolsonaro to become Brazil’s next Minister of Justice – in what could be a masterstroke from both Mr. Moro and Mr. Bolsonaro. However, it could also be a disaster.
As part of Mr. Bolsonaro’s reshuffling and downsizing of the cabinet, Sérgio Moro will be a kind of “super minister.” His Justice Ministry will now encompass the Federal Police, the Federal Comptroller’s Office, the Ministry of Transparency, and Coaf, Brazil’s watchdog against financial crimes, currently attached to the Ministry of Finance. In a statement made on Thursday, he said he’ll immediately step down from all Operation Car Wash-related cases and that he accepted the nomination for the “opportunity to implement a strong anti-corruption and anti-organized crime agenda.”
In the short-term, at least,...
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