The national comptroller, Luís Felipe Salomão, decided to remove Judge Gabriela Hardt and two appellate judges who worked in the Car Wash cases from their positions in the Federal Court. The decision was taken after an investigation by the National Council of Justice (CNJ, in Portuguese) into the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, the same court that handled the operation's cases.
Hardt's removal is related to the Lava Jato foundation case. The entity was created by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF, in Portuguese) to receive funds related to the operation – which is illegal.
The two appellate judges removed are Thompson Flores and Loraci Flores de Lima, who served on the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4, in Portuguese) at the time of the Operation Car Wash. Danilo Pereira Júnior, until recently the head of the 13th Court in the city of Curitiba, was also removed.
The review of the 13th Court also mentioned former judge and current senator Sergio Moro. As he no longer works in the judiciary, he was not removed. However, his involvement in the case will also be analyzed by the CNJ plenary.
According to Salomão, the investigation into the 13th Court – which CNJ treated as a review – "identified several irregularities and illegalities that occurred in the workflows developed during various investigations and criminal actions that made up what was known as 'Operation Car Wash', especially concerning control mechanisms and ability."
He said that, regarding Hardt, she may even have committed crimes, which justifies her prior removal until her conduct is judged by the council. "The acts attributed to magistrate Gabriela Hardt, in addition to theoretically being criminal types – embezzlement, with possible interdependent criminal consequences, malfeasance, privileged corruption or ive corruption – also fall under serious istrative infractions, constituting strong evidence of disciplinary misconduct and violations of the magistrate's functional duties."
Regarding Flores, Lima and Pereira Júnior, the Justice Inspector points out that they disrespected decisions by the Supreme Court (STF, in Portuguese) in processes that culminated in the removal of Judge Eduardo Appio, the judge who took over Lava Jato.
Brasil de Fato asked the Federal Court of Paraná state, where the 13th Criminal Court is located, and the TRF-4 for their positions on the removal of the magistrates. The TRF-4 said on Monday (15) that it had been notified by the CNJ and that the decision was being complied with. The Federal Court, for its part, did not respond. If they take a position, this news story will be updated.
