US sanctions Brazil's Supreme Court justice overseeing trial against
Trump ally Bolsonaro
[July 31, 2025]
By ELÉONORE HUGHES
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday
announced sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de
Moraes over alleged suppression of freedom of expression and the ongoing
trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.
De Moraes oversees the criminal case against Bolsonaro, who is accused
of masterminding a plot to stay in power despite his 2022 election
defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship,
arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized
prosecutions — including against former President Jair Bolsonaro,” U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
The department cited the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act, which targets perpetrators of human rights abuse and corrupt
officials, as its authority to issue the sanctions.
The decision orders the freezing of any assets or property de Moraes may
have in the U.S.
Brazil’s Supreme Court and the Presidential Palace did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Wednesday’s sanctions follow the U.S. State Department's announcement of
visa restrictions on Brazilian judicial officials, including de Moraes,
on July 18.
They also come after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff
on Brazilian imported goods on July 9. In a letter announcing the
tariff, Trump explicitly linked the import tax to what he called the
“witch hunt” trial of Bolsonaro currently underway in Brazil.

Trump appears to identify with Bolsonaro, who is accused of trying to
overturn the results of his 2022 loss to Lula. Similarly, Trump was
indicted in 2023 on allegations that he tried to overturn the results of
the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Bolsonaro has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor after being deemed a
flight risk.
Bolsonaro's son Eduardo celebrated the U.S. Treasury Department
announcement on X, calling it a “historic milestone” and a warning that
“abuses of authority now have global consequences.”
Eduardo Bolsonaro relocated to the U.S. in March and is under
investigation for allegedly working with U.S. authorities to impose
sanctions against Brazilian officials.
Also on Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order to implement the 50%
tariff announced earlier this month. The White House said in a statement
that the order was a response to “recent policies, practices, and
actions” of Brazil that “constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat
to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United
States.”
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President of the Supreme Electoral Court, Minister Alexandre de
Moraes arrives to preside over the trial of former President Jair
Bolsonaro in Brasilia, Brazil, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gustavo
Moreno, File)

That was a shift in rationale for the tariff. The legal basis of the
threat on July 9 was an earlier executive order premised on trade
imbalances being a threat to the U.S. economy. But the U.S. ran a
$6.8 billion trade surplus last year with Brazil, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau.
In Wednesday's order, Trump said Brazil’s policies and criminal
prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro constitute an
economic emergency under a 1977 law.
After the tariff was announced earlier this month, Lula said that
Trump wasn't elected to be “emperor of the world.” He has defended
Brazil's sovereignty and the independence of Brazil's judiciary.
Lula called an emergency meeting with some ministers following
Wednesday’s events, local newspaper O Globo reported.
The left-wing president had earlier sanctioned a law banning the use
of live animals in laboratory testing for personal hygiene products,
cosmetics and perfumes, calling Wednesday a “sacred day of
sovereignty.”
In a video posted on social media, Lula said he left the event in
capital Brasilia in a hurry to defend “the sovereignty of the
Brazilian people in light of the measures announced by the President
of the United States.”
Originally due to come into effect on Aug 1, Wednesday's order said
the tariffs would go into effect seven days after its signing.
Flavia Loss, an international relations professor at Foundation
School of Sociology and Politics in Sao Paulo, said the sanctions
against Moraes and the tariffs order marked an escalation in the
tensions between the U.S. and Brazil.
“We are not talking about a normal commercial dispute between
countries, we are talking about using commercial tools to coerce
what happens in Brazil,” Loss said.
Human Rights Watch in Brazil said on X the sanctions “are a clear
violation of judicial independence, a pillar of democracy.”
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