US removes Brazilian Supreme Court justice and his wife from sanctions list

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. removed Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes from its sanctions list on Friday after initially adding him over his role in leading the trial against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

De Moraes’ wife and the Lex Institute, which she leads, were also taken off the list, according to documents from the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The Treasury Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment on why de Moraes had been taken off the list.

The Trump administration had sanctioned the judge in July, accusing him of using his position to authorize arbitrary pretrial detentions and suppress freedom of expression in Brazil.

Bolsonaro was accused of masterminding a plot to stay in power despite his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — similar charges to what President Donald Trump faced after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in 2021 to stop Democrat Joe Biden from taking the White House.

Bolsonaro was convicted and sentenced to more than 27 years in prison. He reported to prison last month.

In initially sanctioning de Moraes, the Treasury Department had cited the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which targets perpetrators of human rights abuse and corrupt officials. De Moraes said the use of the act against him was “illegal and regrettable.”

Also in July, the Trump’s administration imposed a 40% tariff on Brazilian products on top of a 10% tariff imposed earlier, justifying the tariffs by saying that Brazil’s policies and criminal prosecution of Bolsonaro constituted an economic emergency.

Last month, Trump signed an order to remove the additional import tariffs on some agribusiness products.