The most popular minister in Jair Bolsonaro’s government, Sergio Moro, just resigned over a case possibly connected to disinformation and propaganda [thread]

Moro, until now Minister of Justice, resigned after Bolsonaro decided to replace the head of the Federal Police in the country. According to Moro, the action would be political interference in the work of the Justice Ministry.

What is the disinfo angle? Moro claimed Bolsonaro was worried about cases being investigated by the Supreme Court. Two investigations are extremely close to Bolsonaro and his family:

The Supreme Court is investigating the dissemination of disinformation by what is known as the “Hatred Cabinet,” which allegedly has the participation of Bolsonaro’s sons

And there is also an investigation about who organized and financed protests against the Court and Congress last week. Journalists claim that the Federal Police discovered that Bolsonaro's allies were behind these protests

According to Moro, Bolsonaro said he wanted to have personal contact with the head of the Federal Police to be constantly informed about findings

Moro’s resignation may significantly affect Bolsonaro’s popularity, as the former minister was the symbol of the anti-corruption fight in the government

On WhatsApp groups and on Twitter, Bolsonaro is being criticized for going against Moro

As a federal judge, Moro was behind the anti-corruption Car Wash investigation, which saw an important part of Brazil’s political and economic elite arrested

He was also responsible for decisions that extinguished the former President Lula’s presidential bid in 2018– which cleared the path for Bolsonaro to win the election

Link to my latest article about Bolsonaro's disinformation machine: https://medium.com/dfrlab/how-bolsonaros-disinfo-machine-targeted-brazil-s-pro-quarantine-health-minister-95e0cbe6d146

Links to articles (in Portuguese) about the disinformation angle: https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2020/04/pivo-de-embate-entre-moro-e-bolsonaro-pf-apura-casos-que-envolvem-entorno-do-presidente.shtml