Brazil

Brazil's Moraes Orders Operation Targeting Alleged Source of Reports on Fellow Justice

Is this a death blow to Brazilian press freedom or a justified crackdown on a paid plot endangering a justice's life?

AUG 12·Updated AUG 13

Brazil's Moraes Orders Operation Targeting Alleged Source of Reports on Fellow Justice

Story

Above: Alexandre de Moraes in Brasilia on June 16, 2026. Image credit: Sergio Lima/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

Brazil's federal police carried out a search-and-seizure operation on Tuesday, at the direction of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, targeting the alleged source behind reports critical of Justice Flávio Dino.
Claudio Dantas
CNN Brazil
Folha de S. Paulo
Raimundo Cutrim, a retired federal police chief who also served as secretary and state congressman in Maranhão and is a political opponent of former Maranhão governor-turned-justice Dino, has been identified as the alleged source for journalist Luís Pablo.
CNN Brazil
The Rio Times
Valor International
This latest raid comes after Luís Pablo had his cellphone and other electronic devices seized during a similar operation in March. Source protection is a right enshrined in the Brazilian Constitution.
Poder360
Revista Oeste
Valor International
Luís Pablo published articles on his blog last November describing Dino and his family's alleged improper use of a Maranhão State Court's official vehicle intended for state magistrates for personal, non-official trips, with fuel costs covered with public funds.
Poder360
The Rio Times
Valor International
According to local news outlets, Moraes stressed in his decision on Aug. 3 that Brazil's federal police had found a 100,000 Brazilian reais ($19,200) transfer to Luís Pablo and that evidence indicates they were part of a plot to attack Justice Dino's freedom.
Brasil 247
Claudio Dantas
Metrópoles
Cutrim is currently under house arrest with electronic monitoring in a separate sealed case involving alleged obstruction of a homicide investigation into one of his relatives. Last month, he said in a video that legal actions against him were related to state elections later this year.
CNN Brazil
The Rio Times

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Moraes just proved his tyrannical nature again: he sent federal police after a journalist's source over reporting on a fellow justice's improper use of an official car. First the reporter's phone, now his source's home raided — sourcebook confidentiality be damned. Moraes attacks whoever embarrasses the Court. The press that once celebrated him built its own censor. Brazil should be alarmed.

Narrative B

This case isn't about press freedom. Brazilian institutions are tackling a paid surveillance operation against a Supreme Court justice that took place under the guise of journalism. Tens of thousands of dollars funneled to a blogger who tracked and published routes, vehicles and security details for Brazil's second-most death-threatened justice. Moraes is legitimately stopping a financed plot to paint a target on a colleague's back.

UOL on Youtube