Trump administration sanctions top Brazilian judge’s wife
President Trump’s administration on Monday sanctioned the wife of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who led the probe into former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, and was sentenced to nearly three decades in prison this month.
The U.S. government sanctioned de Moraes’s wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, and their holding company, the Lex Institute, as the standoff between Brazil and the Trump administration continues.
“Alexandre de Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions and politicized prosecutions — including against former President Jair Bolsonaro,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to target individuals who provide material support to de Moraes as he abuses human rights.”
Moraes was on the panel of justices who voted in early September to sentence Bolsonaro to a 27-year prison sentence. Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting a self-coup to remain in power after losing the 2022 presidential election to now-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Shortly after, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Brazil that the U.S. was preparing to “respond accordingly.”
The sanctions, levied by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, would prevent those in the U.S. from engaging in transactions with de Moraes’ wife.
“These sanctions build on a series of actions taken by the Trump Administration to hold Moraes accountable for abusing his authority, creating a censorship complex, blatantly targeting political opponents and committing serious human rights abuse,” Rubio said in a statement. “Those who protect and enable foreign malign actors like Moraes threaten U.S. interests and will also be held to account.”
In July, the U.S. revoked visas for de Moraes and other justices on the country’s Supreme Court. Trump signed an order that month to hike tariffs on Brazil to 50 percent. The U.S. has accused Moraes of using his post to “weaponize courts, authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppress freedom of expression.”
Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said Tuesday on CNN “there’s no space at all, not even one inch, to negotiate, when it comes to the prosecution of Bolsonaro. But he added that is “ready to negotiate the taxes, tariffs – that we can do, although they are illegal.”