It was late in the afternoon on Thursday when far-right Congressman Paulo Fernando, a hardcore Bolsonarista, broke the news to his fellow lawmakers at a public hearing. He interrupted the chair of the Communications Committee: “An urgent message,” Mr. Fernando said, glancing at his phone. “The judiciary has just ordered the release of [former Justice] Minister Anderson Torres.”
The room erupted in excited applause. “Wonderful! Wonderful!” said the committee’s chairman, far-right Congressman Gustavo Gayer.
Anderson Torres briefly served as Brasília’s top security official during the January 8 riots. He went on vacation to Florida just days after taking the new job, following in the footsteps of his former boss Jair Bolsonaro, who traveled to the same state in late 2022 to avoid attending the presidential inauguration of his rival and successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
For the second half of Mr. Bolsonaro’s term as Brazil’s president, Mr. Torres served as his justice minister, sparing no effort to aid and abet his boss’s putschist agenda. Back in July 2021, Mr. Bolsonaro held a live broadcast at the presidential residence to allegedly demonstrate weaknesses in Brazil’s electoral system. He came up short, even admitting: “we have no evidence.” Mr. Torres was faithfully at his side.
In March 2022, Mr. Torres participated in one of the Brazilian far-right’s endless supply of moral panics. At the time, lawmakers and influencers were...
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