The United States Supreme Court is over 200 years old and has only one case in which a judge with a tarnished reputation resigned. Abe Fortas joined the court in 1965 after serving as personal counsel for President Lyndon Johnson. Three years later, a vacancy for the presidency of the court (this position is there for life) and the friend decided to promote him.
Republican senators obstructed the election and shot Fortas to show that he had received $15,000 to lecture at a university. The money came from a fund managed by companies that had lawsuits in court. Fortas requested that the nomination be withdrawn and remained in court until another, more serious case arose and he resigned.
If the first phase of the Fortas case is duplicated in Brazil, there will be hundreds of vacancies in the judiciary.
Earlier last week, Moraes was harassed at Rome airport and one of his relatives was physically attacked. The minister returned from a lecture at the University of Siena, whose law faculty will celebrate its millennium in 2040. Days later, the case took on another dimension. Reporter Eduardo Oinegue pointed out that the International Legal Forum that Moraes attended was an event sponsored by Unialfa, which has a law school in Goiânia.
The forum started in Valladolid, Spain and continued in Siena. Of the 31 speakers, 20 were Brazilian and 11 from Unialfa. This university, in turn, belongs to the José Alves group, which has several activities with Vitamedic, including the sale of medicines. One of its brands is ivermectin, a cousin of chloroquine. Fifteen days before the International Law Forum, Vitamedic and Unialfa were convicted by the Rio Grande do Sul judge for their support of Bolsonarian healers.
Alexandre de Moraes was harassed in Rome, Luís Roberto Barroso was insulted in New York and Gilmar Mendes (patron of the forums in Portugal) was abused in Lisbon. In all cases lectures were held and in some cases they coincided with public holidays. In New York they even complained that the consulate had not given them the security they wanted.
The speech industry is broad, general and narrow. It spoils governors, ministers, parliamentarians and also journalists. Who doesn’t remember the Lava Jato Baronet lecture desk? The niche of speaking at events abroad (never in Africa) is for illustrious personalities.
It’s a deal that gets Brazilian Maganos talking to Brazilians in Lisbon, New York and, as we’ve seen, even Siena.
Long ago, when there was a tax on foreign travelers, travelers to conventions and symposiums could apply for an exemption. Behold, a deputy received an exemption because he went to Paris as a visiting professor at the Sorbonne. Having fallen for the ruse and only wanting to lecture in a room rented from the Sorbonne, he declared himself: He was a professor and would be a visiting professor when he went to the Sorbonne.
These hordes of judges, ministers and maganos in general are ridiculous and have already been nicknamed “Farofas”.
It is likely that Alexandre de Moraes was unaware of the details revealed by Oinegue. Behind Geld, renowned universities and institutions negotiate with organizers of similar events about their logos. Give yourself the discount you want, everyone who goes to “farofas” knows what they are doing.
There was something ridiculous about going to these events, but the case of Alexandre de Moraes revealed a toxic aspect that Ministers and Maganos did well to avoid. Moraes, like Abe Fortas, is bigger than his damned stay in Siena and Rome.