United States Lifts Sanctions on Brazilian Judge Who Was Under Trump's Scrutiny for Bolsonaro Trial

(Patria) - The United States has lifted sanctions against a Brazilian Supreme Court judge who was sanctioned for overseeing criminal proceedings against an ally of President Donald Trump, the Treasury Department announced on Friday, Reuters reported.

The reversal in less than five months, which came after the United States began lifting tariffs on Brazilian goods, showed how quickly Trump warmed to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and stopped aggressively defending his right-wing predecessor.

The U.S. sanctioned Judge Alexandre de Moraes in July under the Global Magnitsky Act, for overseeing the trial that led to the conviction and imprisonment of former President Jair Bolsonaro for an attempted coup after he lost the 2022 re-election bid. Trump called the trial a "witch hunt," and his administration accused Moraes of abusing the courts, authorizing arbitrary pretrial detentions, and suppressing free speech.

On Friday, the Treasury Department also lifted sanctions imposed in September on Moraes' wife, Viviane Barci, as well as sanctions against the Lex Institute, a financial entity managed by Barci and other family members.

The sanctions fueled tensions between Brasília and Washington this summer, when Trump imposed high tariffs on many products from Brazil, some of which he began lifting last month.

The announcement came a few days after Brazilian lawmakers voted to dramatically shorten sentences for Bolsonaro and others convicted of anti-democratic acts following the 2022 elections. The bill, which now goes to the Brazilian Senate, is likely to face opposition from Lula and the Supreme Court.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the passage of the bill in the lower house of Congress.

"The U.S. has consistently expressed concern about efforts to weaponize the legal process to exploit political differences in Brazil," Landau wrote on social media platform X, calling the approval "a first step toward addressing these abuses."

A senior Trump administration official said on Friday that Moraes' "continued status is not in line with U.S. foreign policy interests."

"In that regard, the United States considers the passage of an important amnesty law by the lower house of the Brazilian parliament a step in the right direction, signaling that legal conditions in Brazil are improving," the official said.

Trump and Lula discussed the sanctions last week during what the U.S. leader called an "excellent" phone call, announcing what he termed a "newly formed partnership" with Lula after months of tensions.

Brazil's Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, said in a post on X that the lifting of sanctions was a victory for Brazil and Lula. "It was Lula who put this lifting on the table with Donald Trump, in a proud and sovereign dialogue," she wrote.

Lula emphasized the importance of lifting sanctions on Brazilian officials during the call, a source from the Brazilian presidency told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Brazil gave nothing in return. "There was no quid pro quo," the source said.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, one of Jair Bolsonaro's sons and a vocal advocate of Washington's pressure campaign on the Brazilian judiciary, expressed regret over the decision in a public statement.

"We are grateful for the support President Trump showed during this process and for the attention he paid to the serious crisis of freedoms affecting Brazil," Eduardo Bolsonaro wrote.