Between 2014 and 2018, Sergio Moro went from being an obscure federal judge to perhaps the most influential Brazilian of the 2010s. He led Operation Car Wash, a massive anti-corruption investigation that shattered the legitimacy of Brazil’s political establishment, nearly destroyed some of the country’s largest construction conglomerates, and sent a former president to jail for nearly two years.
Many, including himself, saw Mr. Moro as presidential material. In 2021, he joined a political party in hopes of being elected to the country’s highest office. But bad decisions have marred Mr. Moro’s political career, and he had to settle for a Senate seat for his home state of Paraná.
After the 2018 election, Mr. Moro accepted an invitation from former President Jair Bolsonaro to join the government as justice minister — a controversial move, given that it was his work that put Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the favorite to win the presidency...
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