How Jair Bolsonaro outsmarted Sergio Moro

Protesters took to the streets on Sunday afternoon in 22 Brazilian states in defense of sweeping five-year corruption investigation Operation Car Wash. Decked out in yellow and green and draped in Brazilian flags, demonstrators showed their opposition to the so-called “Abuse of Office Act,” a proposal approved by Congress which punishes excesses committed by prosecutors and judges, seen by some factions of the electorate as an effort to curtail Car Wash investigations.

There was also criticism of the Supreme Court, with thousands in attendance following the rallying cry to “fecha tudo!“—to shut down the country’s highest court entirely. Interestingly enough, the Abuse of Office Act opposed by demonstrators would also punish Supreme Court Justices for overstepping their bounds, showing a not-so-uncommon case of incoherence among “anti-corruption” protests in 2010s Brazil.

In São Paulo, there were huge inflatable effigies of Justice Minister Sergio Moro—who, before joining the cabinet, was the lead federal judge of Operation Car Wash. Despite The Intercept‘s leaks of private messages between Mr. Moro and Car Wash prosecutors which showed numerous instances of abuse of office within the investigation, the Justice Minister remains the...