Operation Car Wash: the end (seems) near

In the morning of June 18, federal marshals in three municipalities in Rio de Janeiro state carried out search and seizure warrants at the homes of suspects of taking part in a corruption ring within Petrobras, Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas giant. This was the 71st phase of the country’s sprawling Operation Car Wash investigation, but it was the first operation in 2020, which is looking to be by far the least productive year of the task force since its launch in 2014.

Once considered an unstoppable anti-corruption force, Operation Car Wash is seeing its wings clipped on a constant basis. Recent developments suggest it is on its way to being completely neutered.

Last week, a group of federal prosecutors resigned from the Car Wash task force, claiming that Augusto Aras — the Prosecutor General handpicked by President Jair Bolsonaro last year — is trying to tamper with the investigations. By way of his deputy, Lindora de Araújo, Brazil’s top prosecutor requested access to confidential audio recordings and documents — a highly unusual move, according to the rebelling prosecutors. But Mr. Aras claims that Operation Car Wash — which has arrested almost 300 people and recovered over BRL 18 billion in funds lost to corruption — is not an independent branch of government and must respond to hierarchy.

This is just the latest move by the Jair Bolsonaro administration against Operation Car Wash. Despite being elected under an anti-corruption banner, the president has allowed the slow bleeding of Brazil’s flagship bribery probe. 

In the wake of Operation Car Wash,...