BRASILIA - US President Donald Trump on Friday, the 12th, removed the name of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from the list of those sanctioned under the Maginitsky Act. The decision also included the removal of lawyer Viviane Barci, the magistrate's wife, and the Lex Institute, a company maintained by the couple.
Moraes was sanctioned by the Trump administration on July 30th of this year amid pressure from American authorities for him to back down in the trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro for leading a criminal organization in an attempted coup d'état.
Viviani and the company were included on the list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control on September 22 of this year, in a retaliatory gesture after the First Panel of the Supreme Federal Court followed Moraes' vote and sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison on the 11th of the same month.
The Magnitsky Act imposes financial penalties on foreign nationals accused of corruption or serious human rights violations. This legal instrument, available to the U.S. Treasury Department, had never before been used against members of the judiciary.
The Trump administration punished Moraes for allegedly promoting a "witch hunt" against Bolsonaro and his supporters, as declared by the US president himself. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed Trump's statement justifying the punishment, stating that Bolsonaro was one of Moraes' targets"in his campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and political persecution."
The application of the Magnitsky Act by the Trump administration was the result of intense pressure from federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), who moved to the United States in February of this year with the goal of convincing American authorities that his father's trial was the result of political persecution. Eduardo's lobbying efforts with the Trump administration were supported by influencer Paulo Figueiredo.
In a published statement, Eduardo said he received"with regret the news of the most recent decision announced by the American government," but expressed gratitude for Trump's support."We sincerely hope that President Donald Trump's decision will be successful in defending the strategic interests of Americans, as is his duty," he stated.
