US sanctions wife of Brazil's Supreme Court judge who oversaw Bolsonaro prosecution

New Delhi,UPDATED: Sep 23, 2025 01:16 IST

The US on Monday imposed sanctions on the wife of the Brazilian judge who presided over the criminal case of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro and also yanked the visas of six high-ranking officials, as a months-long showdown between the Trump administration and the Brazilian government escalates.

Widening the penalties targeting Brazil's judiciary, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Viviane Barci de Moraes, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, under authorities provided by the Global Magnitsky Act, the Treasury Department said.

It also imposed sanctions on the Lex Institute, a financial entity controlled by Barci de Moraes and other family members. The US government believes the Lex Institute could serve as a vehicle to evade pre-existing sanctions, a senior administration official said.

The new sanctions underline how Trump has been using financial penalties to achieve political ends. In the past, Magnitsky Act sanctions have been reserved for individuals whose actions draw bipartisan scorn, such as war criminals or individuals involved in assassinations.

Shortly after the new sanctions were made public, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that additional Brazilian officials could be sanctioned if the US deems it necessary.

Brazil's Supreme Court declined to comment. Barci de Moraes' law firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moraes presided over the criminal case of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted earlier in the month of attempting a coup to stay in power after he lost the 2022 election to current leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

His lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction, though jurists say their chances of success are remote.

De Moraes himself was already hit in July with sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, which allows the US to impose economic penalties against foreigners it considers to have a record of corruption or human rights abuses.

The Trump administration has accused De Moraes of weaponizing courts, authorizing arbitrary pre-trial detentions, and suppressing freedom of expression, charges the Brazilian government denies.

DIPLOMATIC CRISIS

Taken as a whole, the latest sanctions represent a deepening of an ongoing diplomatic crisis between the Western Hemisphere's two largest democracies.

Trump and his political allies dismiss the criminal case against Bolsonaro as a political witch-hunt. The US president, who was himself indicted criminally for trying to stay in power following his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden, has frequently indicated that he sees the former Brazilian leader as a kindred spirit.

De Moraes has stood firm on Brazil's judicial independence after receiving US sanctions.

Earlier in July, the Trump administration canceled US visas held by Moraes and several other Brazilian Supreme Court justices. The US also hit Brazil with a 50% tariff on most goods.

Separately, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters on Monday the US was revoking Brazilian Solicitor-General Jorge Messias' visa, as well as the visas of five additional Brazilian judicial officials, three of them current or former Moraes aides.

Messias criticized the new measures in a post on X on Monday.

"The latest measures applied by the US government against Brazilian authorities and their family members deepens an unfounded series of unilateral actions, totally incompatible with the peaceful and harmonious management of diplomatic and economic relations," he wrote.

WASHINGTON EYES AMNESTY FOR BOLSONARO, RIOTERS

In addition to serving as a US response to Bolsonaro's conviction, the new sanctions are meant to target what the US alleges is a broad censorship regime in Brazil, spearheaded by Moraes and aimed at conservatives, including some legal US residents.

The Brazilian government denies that any such censorship regime exists, and many Democrats and Western leaders see US sanctions as an example of bullying directed at a nation that should be a major hemispheric ally.

Freedom of speech is a significantly more circumscribed right in Brazil than it is in the US, and various forms of racist or hate speech or comments seen as attacks on democratic institutions can be considered criminal offences.

In recent years, Moraes and other judicial officials have ordered social media profiles to be removed via often secret orders and instigated probes into public figures, among other measures. That has led to high-profile feuds with major social media platforms, including Elon Musk's X.

Moraes' critics say such moves represent an erosion of due process. His defenders say he is protecting Brazil's democracy - which is only 40 years old after emerging from a military dictatorship.

The Trump administration is closely watching an amnesty bill working its way through Brazil's Congress, which could provide relief to Bolsonaro, his accomplices and pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators involved in a January 8, 2023, attack on government buildings in Brasilia, the senior administration official said.

Lawmakers voted by a large margin last week to fast-track a vote on that bill.

The Trump administration strongly prefers full amnesty for all relevant actors, Bolsonaro included, the official said. Full amnesty is a precondition for lifting sanctions, the official added, assuming that the Brazilian Supreme Court does not stymie that effort.

Court officials have indicated that Congress does not have the constitutional power to pardon Bolsonaro for his crimes, meaning a future showdown in Brazil between the nation's legislative and judicial branches is possible.

In the call on Monday with reporters, Bessent, the Treasury secretary, warned that financial institutions dealing with the sanctioned officials could also be in Washington's crosshairs.

"Any Brazilian financial institution that deals with sanctioned individuals, they should also consider those actions carefully," he said.

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