The Treasury Department has sanctioned a Brazilian judge overseeing the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of organizing organizing a coup — the latest Trump administration foray into the trial of one of President Donald Trump’s ideological allies.
In a statement Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sanctions on Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, the judge overseeing the trial of Bolsonaro on charges he worked to overturn his 2022 election loss by organizing a military coup. Treasury cited its authority under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the U.S. government to sanction human rights abusers around the world, arguing de Moraes has used his position to authorize “arbitrary” pre-trial detentions and suppress free speech around the world.
The measure freezes any assets de Moraes may have in the United States, including indirect business interests, and bars those in the U.S. from entering into transactions with de Moraes.
“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,” Bessent said in the statement. “Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens.”
The Trump administration has used a number of policy levers to intervene in the trial of the president’s ally. Earlier this month, Trump threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on the South American country. In a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Trump specifically highlighted the prosecution of Bolsonaro and his relationship with the far-right Brazilian politician during his first term, when Bolsonaro was in power.
That letter followed concerted advocacy from Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, who has a relationship with Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump, Jr., and has become a full-time lobbyist for his father’s cause.
The State Department subsequently applied visa restrictions on de Moraes and his family.
Lula has rejected any suggestion his country will acquiesce to the U.S. demands, arguing he will not accept “bullying” from Trump.
Brazil’s embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
A Brazilian official, granted anonymity to speak more freely about the country’s approach to Trump’s threats, said that honoring the request would violate Brazil’s constitution. The official explained that the country’s judiciary is fully independent from the executive branch and there is no mechanism — save through the passage of a sweeping amnesty law — through which the country’s leadership could directly halt the trial.
This is not de Moraes’ first brush with anger from U.S. conservatives. Even before he took over the Bolsonaro case, de Moraes faced pressure from the American right over his oversight of a case against X, the social media platform owned by billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk. De Moraes blocked access to X in Brazil for weeks in 2024, arguing the platform was in violation Brazilian digital safety laws, and has ordered the termination of users’ social media accounts that promote “hate speech” and spread illegal content. That prompted a lawsuit from conservative media companies, including Trump Media.
